


Rend

by fleets



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: Action/Adventure, Canon Related, Friendship, Gen, Time Travel, Villains to Heroes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-11 20:38:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 53
Words: 195,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5641108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleets/pseuds/fleets
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An evil sorcerer and a hero chosen by the goddesses. They're fated to fight, but sometimes fate likes to pull humorless jokes. A Vaati-centric fic which was originally posted on fanfiction.net in 2010.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The End of Four Swords

**Chapter 1: The End of Four Swords**

_Long, long ago in a forgotten time before the emergence of the legendary sword…_

"Ah, welcome home. What's the report?"

A scarred elderly man who had been leaning against the shoddily made wooden barricade around the village straightened himself out as the evening patrol approached the gates. The gates didn't really keep the village safe, but in dark times they at least provided a sense of security for the villagers: the illusion of safety was better than nothing at all. The leader of the patrol, a young man armed with a simple sword and loose mail, hobbled over with his group of six.

"Evening. We mostly saw a few of the minor class monsters such as kargarocs and moblins." He walked through the gates as he wiped the sweat away from his forehead. "We considered it lucky since the village of Sarr a few miles West of here had trouble with a few ore class monsters three days ago."

The gate guard raised his eyebrows and gave a long whistle. "Ore class! That's troubling."

The patrol nodded gravely. "Two of them. The Garnet and the Onyx."

"The red Gyorg and the black Molgera: an attack from both the air and the earth." The elderly man leaned against the splintered gates once again. "Well, I guess they had fortune enough that the Render didn't appear instead. I hear that beast has the ability to raze entire villages in an instant.

"Raze? No, more like vanish. And yes, they were lucky the Opal didn't make an appearance. I hear that dragon was spotted near that area recently so they were truly fortunate." The patrol looked over his shoulder and signaled to the rest of his group that they were free for the night. Their stern countenance broke and they ran laughing into the village: they were only boys after all. "Soon enough, though, none of us will have to live in this nightmare full of these powerful monsters. The hero has been given the Four Sword with the ability to seal those evil creatures away."

The elderly man nodded with a bright smile. "Indeed. It's only a matter of time until we no longer have to worry about those things…"

XXXXXXXXX

_Before the creation of the Four Sword, monsters terrorized the land of Hyrule. Powerful creatures large enough that they towered over the trees cast shadows over the people, setting the era into one of terror and dread. People lived in fear as these titans did as they pleased; slaughtering thousands and burning villages._

_They say a legendary race known as the Minish bestowed upon the Hylians a sword that could seal away all of the evil in the land. The chosen hero wielded this sacred sword and purged Hyrule of darkness, restoring the light that the people had feared they would never see again._

_There is yet another legend that speaks of a sorcerer who had succeeded in releasing the evil held by the sword many seasons later. Conquering the kingdom and allowing the terrible monsters loose to roam Hyrule once again, the sorcerer obscured the land in darkness. Though a hero was able to defeat the sorcerer using the Four Sword, the damages had been done and the consequences of the sorcerer's actions could not be prevented._

_For now, after many centuries, a hero has stepped up with the sacred sword once more in the face of the sorcerer's return. Neither will be prepared for the result of the consequences that have extended beyond the centuries, itching to repay what had occurred years ago…_

Four figures gathered around the edge of the Palace of Winds, the flying castle that was the evil sorcerer's last stronghold. Each was wearing a simple tunic with a triangular hat, and save for the color, everything about them was nearly identical. The strands of their blond hair slapped at their faces as the wind picked up, and they bravely faced the storm that was gathering before them.

The four identical boys gripped the hilt of their swords tightly. The red one shied away slightly with unease behind the blue one who looked prepared to rush recklessly into the fight. Next to him was the violet one with his cool eyes scanning the skies to analyze their target. On the far end was the green one; the one who was most like the original Link.

It was necessary to say "original," for the four boys had once been a single entity. Through the power of the legendary sword in their hands, the young boy named Link had been split into four so that he could defeat the monster that was wreaking havoc right now. Green's expression hardened when he saw a giant shadow approach them from within the stormy skies. "Let's end this."

His other three nodded and prepared themselves. No sooner had they nodded a desperate screech rang through the clouds.

"You cannot defeat me!"

The four heroes dug their heels into the ground when a monstrous winged eye burst into view. Its single pupil was glowing red with madness, and it flapped its demonic black wings quickly as it launched itself at them. The eye had already sustained heavy damage from the prolonged fight, and it was obvious it was weakening from the way it resorted to reckless desperation attacks. The demon was eager to finish the fight quickly. "I am the greatest sorcerer of all time!" it screamed, releasing a powerful blast of wind magic.

The eye cursed when the foursome easily evaded the attack, rolling away nimbly just before the blast could hit them. In complete synchronicity, the four heroes made a running dash towards the eye with their swords.

_Hmph! I'll get you eventually, brats_. The eye narrowed, glaring at the approaching boys. It spread its six wings for another attack – however, nothing happened. The narrowed eye gradually widened with a look of confusion, which then turned to horror and then to panic.  _I can't… move._  The fight was taking a toll on its body, and now after so much abuse, it was failing to respond. The eye struggled furiously to recover before the heroes reached it.

"Fools! I am – "

It couldn't finish its sentence. The last thing the eye saw before it blacked out was the image of the four heroes jumping in midair with their swords pointed towards its pupil.  _I… I am the greatest, I am…Vaati._

XXXXXXXXX

"Ugh…"

Green had been ready to finish Vaati off when something slammed into his side and had sent him sprawling near the edge of the Palace of Winds. It had caught him off guard, so he was in a daze not because he was hurt but because he had been surprised. Slightly disoriented, he looked around to see the others had been stunned as well.

"What?" Blue growled, clutching his head. He adjusted his hat that had been knocked to the side after he had fallen to the ground. Next to him, Red was getting up on his feet shakily.

"Nnn… Hey, is everyone all right?"

Something wasn't right with this picture. A few yards away from them, a large black sphere with wings lay battered and worn. Vaati was knocked out cold, so it couldn't have been the wind mage who had attacked them. If it hadn't been them, who could it have been?

Predictably, Vio voiced Green's concerns. "Something isn't right."

"What do you mean?" Red interjected. "And we should watch out for Vaati before he attacks – "

"Vaati is not going to be able to cause us harm." Vio abruptly cut Red off, pointing his sword over to where the rampaging monster was lying unconscious. Red turned his head towards the sorcerer, and his eyes widened in surprise when he finally noticed the demon lying limply on its side. Vio continued. "That wasn't him, whoever hit us. It probably wasn't one of his goons, either, considering they knocked him unconscious too."

The four heroes fell silent, and each strained their ears to catch any sign of someone else at the palace. There had to be someone else here, but who was it, and what were their motives? It couldn't have been Shadow Link, could it, since he had disappeared earlier in their adventure? Green uneasily scanned his surroundings until his gaze caught sight of a person sneaking around behind one of the pillars that had been knocked down in the fight. He clenched his sword tightly. "You there, come out where we can see you or we're going to have to force you to come out."

The rest of the three snapped their heads to where Green was looking. They noticed a slim form hesitate behind the rubble, and then stick its foot out as though debating whether or not to reveal itself completely. A female voice demanded, "What do you want?"

"That's what we should be asking you," Blue stepped forward with his sword raised.

After several seconds, there was an indignant huff from the stranger and she moved out into view. The girl didn't appear too old and could have been about the same age as the boys, and she was wearing something that would have been more appropriate for someone going out to fight. Dark gauntlets covered both hands and the metal shoulder guards suspiciously looked like bat wings. Steel boots clicked on the ground as she tapped her foot. "Is that how strangers greet each other these days, by threatening them with a sword?"

"You're highly suspicious."

The girl regarded them for some time, and then her eyes darted towards the sky. She seemed to consider the sky with a look of mixed worry and fake amusement before she turned to the four Links again. Smirking, she tilted her head to the side. "All right. Fine, I'll tell you." She paused, at which point there was a sickening  _crack_  and the air above the palace bent in on itself and seemed to rip. "…but after you clean up whatever is going to come through that."

Mounting shock appeared on the wielders of the Triforce of Courage, and the girl sighed as they stared at it, dumbstruck. A gigantic leathery blue hand made its way out of the portal and thrashed about, attempting to break a larger hole. The sudden motion seemed to snap Blue out of it. He glared at the stranger. "What did you do?"

She raised both hands in a show of innocence and shook her head. "Whoa there, I had nothing to do with it."

"Then what is that?"

The girl frowned disapprovingly. "You sure ask a lot of questions." She waved her hand towards the gigantic arm. "Simply put, you've been mistaken in thinking that the sorcerer was behind everything. That thing is who you really want to defeat, not Vaati." She casually tossed her dark navy black hair from her face, shrugged, and took a few paces back away from them. "Don't bring the fight near me, okay? I have no wish to involve myself in this battle." The head of a boar roared through the portal. "I'll be watching from the side," a step back, "don't worry, I'm sure you guys can slaughter that pig easily," another step back, "I'm rooting for you."

With an unconvincing thumbs-up, the girl ran behind a pillar and out of sight.

Blue seethed, unhappy with the response. "Why that arrogant little – "

"Blue, now's not the time," Green put a hand on his partner's shoulder as he watched the beast wrench itself free and drop out of the rift. The ground shook when the new boss crashed onto the Palace of Winds.

"But we can't trust her!"

"We'll find her when we get this fight over with."

"What if she's the one pulling the strings?" Blue snapped, still insistent.

"Blue, let's just leave thi –"

The hot-headed boy threw Green's hand away from his shoulder. "Don't you 'Blue' me! She… she belittled me!"

Next to them, Vio rolled his eyes. "Can you two children focus on the fight?" The indigo boar snarled and began to spin an outrageously large trident in a dangerous circle. The hair on the back of his neck tingled with every rotation the weapon made; it was obviously a very powerful weapon. "Like, right now?"

XXXXXXXXXX

While the four heroes prepared to fight the monster that had inexplicably appeared from the portal, the girl snuck carefully around the rubble a few feet away. She ducked around and slowly made her way back to where Vaati was still fallen, making sure the boar had its attention towards the others. The girl flinched in surprise as bits of debris fell around her from the beast swinging its trident down on Red; the boy barely dodged it with a yelp.

She took a deep breath when she finally reached the unconscious sorcerer. She noticed he wasn't in very good shape as he had sustained several serious injuries from his battle with the Links. They weren't fatal, but they were bad enough that he probably wouldn't be able to wake up any time soon. The girl tried to ignore one of his claws hanging limply by his side, bent at an unnatural, sick angle. She hoped the blast she had sent towards him in an attempt to knock him away from the heroes' attack hadn't been responsible.

"Okay Vaati," she spoke quietly, "I guess saving you once from those guys wasn't enough to guarantee your safety, huh?" She crossed her fingers in an intricate pattern in preparation of a spell. She continued. "If you get squashed by Ganon now, well, I don't think I would be able to say I'd repaid you in any way, right?"

Neon blue runes began to appear around the air just above her wrists like cuffs. They glowed with a soft, magical light, and they slowly spun around in a ring. "So let's just get you back to a form that I can actually move. Trying to move a heavy, fat ball like you is anything but practical right now, you know." The dark eye began to glow as well, and once the light became as bright as the runes, the monster flashed and the light started to shrink. In a split second, there was an extremely pale Hylian in a purple tunic in place of the demon eye. The girl craned her neck to make sure the spell had worked, and then she waited a few minutes to make sure Ganon's weapon wouldn't come near them. Once sure they were safe for the time being, she commenced dragging Vaati to much safer ground.

With every step, the girl considered running away right then and there. She could leave the four to fight the King of Darkness by themselves and she could disappear, making everything about her lost in memory. At the same time, she had a gut feeling that it would be worthwhile to keep her word about telling them about her. Something told her that this time, she was going to be involved whether she liked it or not.

XXXXXXXX

Red braced himself to dodge another swipe from the enormous trident the monster held. His face wore a frown as he jumped out of the way – he had a nagging thought in his head that was bothering him about the monster they were fighting. He could have sworn he had seen it somewhere, but he didn't know where. He was absolutely certain that he had never in his entire life faced a beast such as the one he was currently trying to fight, so where could he have seen it?

The boar-like beast gave a chilling laugh, its voice dripping with menace. "I did not think Vaati would have been so weak to be defeated by the likes of you, or that idiot Shadow Link." Its eyes glinted, "To think the King of Darkness would have to get rid of you: you should think of it as an honor."

The four boys froze momentarily at the beast's words before scrambling out of the way. Red felt the color drain from his face.

_Ah. No wonder I'd seen it before,_  he thought as he remembered the colorful representation of the story of the King of Darkness.  _I saw it in one of the tapestries at the Royal Palace. Great._

Green sputtered. "The… the King of… he's Ganon?" He felt his voice grow smaller.

"How are we going to beat this thing?" Blue asked, in a similar state of shock.

Meanwhile, Vio had remained calm and was carefully watching Ganon's movements to find an opening for an attack. He finally found one when the monster heaved its weapon up above its shoulders to swing it, leaving its front side completely open. Lunging forward, Vio charged with his sword raised. "Hyaaaaa!"

_Sching!_

"Tch!" Before the sword could pierce the evil king, a magical presence had caused the blade to deflect away from him. Vio barely managed to scramble back out of reach before Ganon could swing the trident and impale him. "I can't damage him," he muttered.

Ganon turned his attention towards the purple Link who had made the first move. He brought the weapon back for another swing. "I'll take you down first."

As soon as the monster took its attention off of them, the other three tried a coordinated strike. Led by Green, the remaining three Links rolled forward to gain momentum and swung their swords towards Ganon with as much force as they could muster. It had worked against Vaati; maybe it'll work against Ganon?

As with Vio's previously, their swords ricocheted back away from Ganon, rendering their attack useless. It appeared their swords were ineffective in this fight. "It's no good…" Green observed, highly worried. Then, "Vio, I hope you've thought of something to take him down!" he shouted through the din. If anyone was going to figure out a way to defeat Ganon, it was probably going to be Vio, the most analytical personality of the four. When he heard no reply, he glanced over at his other self and was dismayed to see Vio shaking his head.

"He's… protected by something; a dark aura. Unless we get rid of it we're just wasting our time."

"Then how do we get rid of it?"

Green wished he hadn't asked, for a look of defeat passed over the purple warrior's face.

"I don't think we can," Vio looked away.

Green opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when they were blown off their feet by powerful magical spheres. Coughing up dust, he wiped his face away of dirt and looked around. If they could be thankful for anything it was Ganon's poor aim. However, Green knew that their luck wouldn't last forever and they needed to find a way to defeat him soon. Everyone was tired from their earlier fight with Vaati, and they didn't have much time left.

A groan from somewhere next to him caught his attention, and he saw Red was spread-eagled beside him. The boy was dazed by the last attack, and he slowly propped himself up and rubbed his head. Before Green could worry about Red, however, another sight startled him. Just by the entrance to the Palace of Winds, Blue had pinned Vio against the stone walls. His back was towards Ganon, and his expression was one of utter fury towards Vio. Green could hear them from where he was standing.

"What," fumed Blue, "kind of a talk is that?" He was surprising even the calm Vio who blinked in confusion by his partner's outburst. Blue continued, shoving him against the wall. "We've come all this way, all this friggin' way only to be  _killed by a giant pig?_ " he roared.

Vio sighed, and then looked down at his feet. Blue was a true fighter and Vio respected that, but at the same time he couldn't see reality even when it was right in front of his face. "Look, Blue, there's nothing we can –"

"Shut up."

Vio's head snapped up by the interruption. It wasn't often that Vio was told to be quiet. Blue continued, a little calmer now.

"We've never given up. Am I right?"

Considering the question, Vio nodded slowly. It was true – even when things had looked bleak for them, the four had never given up until now.

"We're not going home until we've beaten this guy to a bloody pulp. Don't you dare give up on us just yet."

"… Okay." Despite the situation they were in, Vio managed a tiny smile. He felt Blue relax his grip. "Sorry," Vio apologized.

Blue let him go and he nodded. "Right. Come on, let's get this over with."

The urgency of the situation returned quickly with a yell of warning from Green somewhere behind them.

" _Guys, DUCK!"_

"Huh?" Blue and Vio narrowly missed being sliced in half by the trident as it whistled over their heads and smashed the wall that they had been standing by. The two scampered away hurriedly to safety.

"All right Blue, I appreciate your heroism but how, exactly, do you propose to defeat the King of Darkness?" Vio hissed as he ran with Blue towards Green and Red, away from the sharp point of the trident. Even with all of those big words about not giving up earlier, it seemed Blue was currently burdened with the recent reality check. He looked like a performer who had confidently agreed to swallow swords when he didn't know how.

"Um… hold on, I'm thinking."

Vio looked at him blankly. "You know, any other day I would have told you to give up on thinking."

"Hey, I thought I told you no more talks on giving up."

"And that is exactly why I'm not telling you to stop trying a feat you were never really good at."

"Vio!"

Vio shrugged. "You brought this upon yourself. Now start thinking before we all die."

XXXXXXXXXX

The strange girl watched the fray from a safe distance, occasionally glancing back at the sorcerer who once used to be a murderous, giant black eye. She was sure her spell had worked – it was a leeching spell that would suck out all magical properties of the spell caster with every attempt at magic. The curse's property made it impossible for the sorcerer himself to remove it and would require another equally skilled mage to get rid of it. Since the only other person she could think of removing the curse was the princess, she was sure it would keep the sorcerer relatively harmless for some time.

"Hard to believe you were the one who released me from my prison," she said to the unconscious sorcerer. She looked at his fragile Hylian form disapprovingly. He was rather feminine with long, shiny purple bangs to make even Nayru jealous, and he was wearing a long tunic that could potentially pass for a dress; especially with that ungodly purple color – granted he managed to look good in it but still… "You're practically a girl," she giggled to herself.

She rested her chin on her hands as she watched the panicked heroes run away frantically from Ganon. She sighed. "But then again, it's also hard to believe that those four wield the Triforce of Courage." She began to feel embarrassed for them from the way they ran away. Ganon seemed to find it hilarious, seeing supposedly courageous heroes running from their foe. She could hear him laughing.

_Those four should have no problems defeating Ganon, right?_  the girl thought.  _They're the legendary heroes for Din's sake, they're supposed to WIN._

She frowned as Red tripped and fell, becoming an easy target for Ganon. Not looking pleased, she cursed under her breath. "If they keep this up," she grumbled, "I'm going to have to go help them." Then, the girl let out a low, guttural growl that was verging on fiendish. She didn't seem to notice.  _And it's better for me, no, for everyone that I don't get involved._


	2. Final Boss

**Chapter 2: Final Boss**

In a dimly lit room in the upper levels of the Palace of Winds, a girl sat on the edge of her bed with her fingers crossed daintily on her lap. She was wearing the royal dress of a princess, and her blond hair flowed behind her in gold swirls. Princess Zelda was impeccably pretty even though she had been a prisoner of Vaati and Shadow Link for weeks.

It was all thanks to the sorcerer, since he only saw Zelda as an ornamental piece to his castle. He sarcastically lamented the time they were going to have to sacrifice her to rid the world of the last source of light to turn everything to darkness. "Women," he had said, "should only stand around and look pretty for me." So even when she refused to brush her hair, she would find them glowing with a healthy sheen the next morning due to sorcery. She felt violated, but eventually she got used to ignoring it.

Zelda didn't know how much longer she could take this. Whenever Vaati was bored he would come by her room in an attempt to break her. "If you think I'm going to force you to do anything, you are quite mistaken," he had laughed when she had first seen the enormous black eye breeze by her room. The monster had then transformed into a slender youth with a pale complexion; some might even call him handsome. Even so, she was not deceived by this illusion – she knew he was still the demon eye. With a tilt of his head, he gave a slanted smile. "It is much more satisfying to make you come begging. I will break you like a little doll."

And so Zelda had endured Vaati's various mental games designed to turn her into a defeated, empty shell. She knew that he enjoyed the power trips he got from winning against the notable "Wisdom" chosen by the goddesses: anything related to defeating someone "chosen by those pathetic beings" gave the sorcerer immense pleasure.

When she prevailed against his mental torture he weakened her physically, starving her just enough to make her lose her edge. "And don't think about killing yourself," he had mocked. "It would cause a slight kink in our plans, but you would also be guaranteeing us victory." She never knew if this was true, but she could never bring herself to risk the possibility of him speaking the truth.

Zelda eventually forgot how long she had been in the Palace of Winds. She had grown weak, but the fire in her eyes was yet to dim because she held on to the conviction that Link would be able to save the world. Vaati recognized this, and though he had initially jeered at her "naïveté," he gradually became increasingly frustrated as Link further complicated his plans. And now finally today, she had seen Vaati furiously take out his anger on her.

"Don't be so happy just because your foolish hero managed to come here!" he had snarled. She hadn't known Link had made it to the palace so she had jumped up in excitement. Immediately, Vaati had shot her a venomous look. "Enjoy your happiness while it lasts,  _princess_. Today, I will personally kill that pest myself and then I will present you with his corpse!"

His threats had meant nothing to her. Link was here, and Link was going to win. Zelda stood up from the bedside as she sensed a presence from behind the walls. Suddenly, an explosion rocked the room and she brought a hand up to block her face of debris. As she slowly brought her hand down, she felt the warm light of the outside world hit her cheeks and she saw four Links facing an enormous monster a few yards away. Zelda smiled, and a determined gaze that had been absent during her time of imprisonment appeared.

"I'm free…" she whispered.

XXXXXXXXXX

Outside, Red stared paralyzed in horror as Ganon brought his trident up to crush him. Green shouted urgently from a distance.

"Red! Get out of there!"

"Gahahaha! And they call you the Heroes of Legend! If I knew I was facing weaklings like you I wouldn't even have had to go through the trouble of siphoning power off of Vaati!" Ganon rumbled in amusement. "In fact, I'm surprised my moblins couldn't even get rid of you."

Red's legs scrambled against the ground as he tried to get out of the way, but then something in the corner of his eye made him freeze in surprise. From his vantage point he noticed a silhouette of a girl standing where the wall had crumbled from Ganon's attack earlier. The King of Darkness hadn't noticed her there since he had his back towards her.

"Red! What are you doing?" Green shouted at the top of his lungs. He was dismayed to see that Red seemed transfixed on the spot, staring at something that was behind Ganon.

The dark king sneered. "I will thoroughly enjoy killing you four times, Link. Now die." Just as Ganon brought down his trident for the deathblow, a pure beam of white light collided into his back. Distracted, Ganon whirled around to face the newcomer. "What? Who?"

Taking the opportunity, Green rushed towards Red while the monster was looking elsewhere. He firmly grabbed Red's arm and yanked the other boy to his feet. "Come on, Red, move it! What's wrong with you?" he cried when Red barely reacted. Instead of running with Green, the other boy pointed a finger towards the broken wall.

"Princess Zelda… ?"

" _What?"_  Green jerked his head towards the source of the light. Sure enough, the young princess of Hyrule was defiantly staring down the King of Darkness with her golden hair billowing behind her. Her body looked worn and weakened because of her imprisonment, but there was a certain fierceness about her.

"Link!" she called, "I've disabled his barriers!"

Blue ran up to Green and Red, followed closely by Vio. They nodded with conviction. "It's time for a little payback, don't you think?"

XXXXXXXXXX

The black armored girl gritted her teeth when she got a better look at what everyone had their attention on. Princess Zelda had appeared to join the fray, and though the Links had a renewed sense of confidence with her arrival, the girl didn't like the situation one bit.  _This is not good,_  she thought uneasily.

Yes, it was true that the dark aura around Ganon that nullified attacks was finally gone thanks to Zelda's light magic. However, it was also true that their sudden advantage may disappear just as suddenly, and the girl doubted that Ganon wouldn't have thought the same thing.

_Come on you four, wake up! Can't you see that your new situation is still as precarious as before?_

Knuckles white with tension, the girl watched the scene with apprehension.

XXXXXXXXX

Ganon was slightly surprised by the appearance of the princess, and he looked at her thoughtfully as he calculated this new scenario. Then, he smiled in a way that made Zelda step back out of nervousness. Things were working in his favor today.

No longer seeming to care about Zelda's barrier breaking spell, he chuckled and completely turned around to face her instead of the Links. "Princess Zelda, why, I didn't think you would come to me so easily with your Triforce of Wisdom."

Zelda paled as the giant beast approached, and she kept her eyes transfixed on the trident. "Link?" she called with distress in her voice.

Ganon lurched forward. "That's right. I stand between your heroes," he spat the last word, "and you. Who's going to save you now?"

The four Links who had held triumphant expressions were now quickly enveloped in a cloud of doom. They broke out running towards Ganon in a desperate attempt to stop him.

Green never ran faster in his life, but with every stride he knew how hopeless he was to save Zelda.  _Oh goddesses we're not going to make it!_

Green felt blood leave his head when Ganon's trident struck the ground with a resounding crash. The entire palace shook violently at its impact, and that section of the palace came crumbling down. It would have been a miracle if Zelda had survived the attack at all. He didn't want to see what was left of the princess. "I'll… I'll kill you Ganon." He felt tears forming, along with a rage that steadily grew with each drop that left his face. He could hear nothing; not even the surprised yelp that came from the other heroes behind him. All he could hear was the throb of blood that pounded in his ears. He couldn't even hear Zelda's shocked voice stuttering along with the others. No, that had to be a perversion created out of his desperate wish for the princess to be all right…

"What, Zelda? How did you get here?" Green nearly fell in surprise at Vio's comment. Whirling around, he saw his childhood friend looking completely disoriented and surrounded by three very shocked Links.

"Wh-wh-what… Zelda, how did you… why are you… you're alive!" Green spluttered.

Blue and Red stood speechless, not believing but wanting to believe their eyes. Vio was the only one who was remotely calm, checking to see if she was all right.

Zelda, her blue eyes wide in shock, turned to Red who was now almost teary with relief. "Why, yes, I seem to be…" the princess looked as startled as they. "I'm not sure what happened. One moment I was standing in front of Ganon. The next, the air seemed to… rip," she paused, wondering if that was an accurate word to describe what she had seen, "and I arrived here."

Vio looked up sharply. "So you didn't use a spell?"

"No. I've never experienced anything like it. It wasn't like any warping magic I know."

The group became quiet as they pondered over what Zelda had said. Then, the princess snapped up sharply and called everyone to attention. This wasn't the time to think about such things. "We'll discuss this later," she straightened herself up. "Right now, we have a king to overthrow." With that, she began her light magic spell once again to help the heroes.

XXXXXXXXXX

Hidden behind the ruins in safety, the mysterious girl's shoulders slumped in relief. She let out a long, tired sigh and took another look to make sure that the princess was unharmed. Zelda was surrounded by a surprised group of Links; she was fine. The girl kneaded her hands together, and then wiped a bead of sweat on her forehead.

_That was close._

She was so glad that she had managed to warp Zelda out of there before the princess was squished by Ganon's ferocious attack. Still, she had a growing sense of unease from demonstrating her magical abilities. Throughout the years she had survived because she hadn't flaunted her abilities too much; attracting attention towards her wasn't something she wanted to do at this point. The girl glanced over to Ganon. She especially wanted to avoid using it in front of Ganon, who was never really good at staying dead.

If he decided she was worth using, then she'd be in for eons of trouble. She only hoped that he hadn't noticed anything strange.

XXXXXXXXXX

Ganon glared furiously at the empty space where Zelda used to stand. Something had interrupted him again! Roaring in anger, he swung his weapon towards the castle, letting it crumble with a satisfying crash. The King of Darkness, however monster-like he may be, was not the same as those mindless beasts who went on a rampage. Therefore, he allowed his fury to simmer down as he carefully went over what had just occurred.

He remembered seeing a thin spidery line appear around Zelda, and in the crudest of terms he would have called it a portal. However, it wasn't like any portal he had ever seen; it wasn't the normal swirls beyond a black hole, nor was it a traditional warp where the person simply vanished. It was almost as though the space around Zelda had been replaced by space from somewhere else, bending and ripping as she had vanished.

Heightening his awareness, Ganon narrowed his eyes and searched for a hidden presence. His boar ears flattened as he noticed another person watching the fight from a safe distance.

_There._

She was barely noticeable, but he could just make out her face. Grinning with menace, he stared at the girl who now appeared frightened that she had been noticed.  _I've got you now._

The dark king's reverie was interrupted with an intense, flaring pain across his side. "Graaaaah!" He screamed in agony and waved his trident in an arc to create space between him and his attackers. With a low growl, he glared at the four heroes who had launched their own attack now that he was vulnerable. "You think you can beat me?" he snarled, all humanity leaving him. He was angry. He was annoyed. Ganon raged.

As though the appearance of Zelda had given the four Links a new hope, they dodged the beast's attacks with effortless agility and slashed at him with synchronicity. Confused with the onslaught of four swords, Ganon launched a wildly desperate blast of energy at his enemies. Four electric blue spheres of energy crackled towards the four heroes, and they were too large for them to dodge.

"Crap…" mouthed Red.

Vio's forehead was scrunched in concentration. In a split-second decision, he made up his mind and he hoped he was right. "Attack it!" he barked.

"Are you CRAZY?" Blue went wide-eyed at his comrade's words.

"Trust me!"

 _Well we've got no other choice,_  Green agreed silently. His eyes squinted shut as he swung his sword towards the energy sphere. He felt the sword vibrate savagely as it made contact, and the attack threatened to knock Green off of his feet. Just as he was sure he couldn't go on, a holy glow ignited along the blade's path and concentrated itself on the sword's tip. The power of the force crystals flowed through the steel and in an instant the power pushed towards the energy spheres, making it ricochet towards Ganon.

"Damn you! How can such pathetic little pests like you…" Ganon screeched. He writhed as he struggled to control his own body that was failing him. As he began to fall, he gave the four heroes one last word that sent chills down their spine. "I am still the King of Darkness!" he howled. "I will not die! I will  _never_  die!" With that, Ganon slumped forward and fell to the ground.

Green, Blue, Red, and Vio stood uncertainly by the unconscious king, a ragged breathing mass who had been knocked out by his own attack. Blue poked Ganon with his foot. "How did you know we could rebound the attack, Vio?"

Vio rubbed the tip of his nose. "I didn't. I guessed."

"You-" Blue stared at him in disbelief. "Vio! You could have killed us!"

"Yeah, but I didn't," the boy shrugged.

Green stepped in between them to prevent any possibility of arguing. "It was risky, but good job, Vio." Bringing out his sword, Green looked at its hilt. The Four Sword suddenly felt heavy in his hands. "I guess we  _really_  end this." He quietly thought of an adventure-less, but more importantly peaceful, future. Green didn't really know what to think of it. Though he enjoyed the prospect of peace very much, he also didn't know what he was going to do with himself when he no longer had anything to fight. He was a warrior, a hero. When people no longer needed heroes, what was going to be his purpose? When he turned towards his other selves, he noticed that even the hot-headed Blue appeared solemn.

"Come on, before he wakes up," Green urged quietly.

The other three nodded. Raising their swords one last time, they landed a final blow to their nemesis. Each of their Four Swords absorbed the darkness, preparing to seal away the evil king. Swirls of pure darkness snaked around the sword and dissipated as the evil vanished into the sword.

Voicing their discomfort was Red, who squirmed away from the slithering shadow around his sword. "Eeeeew."

Blue also held out his sword as far away from him as possible. "I totally agree with you, Red. I really don't want to hold my sword anymore."

"Oh knock it off you two. It can't be as bad as the time the sword absorbed the Moldorm," Green snapped. Instead of easing their discomfort, the comment only provoked more squirming from Red and Blue. Vio watched them with a flat, disapproving expression.

Zelda walked over, laughing lightly. Color had returned to her pallid face and she appeared happier than ever. "Even though there are four of you, you're all really Link, huh?"

"Zelda!"

She stretched out her arms and laughed freely – something she hadn't been able to do when Vaati had imprisoned her. Taking Green's hand in hers, she smiled and made him blush in embarrassment. "I guess we'd better get going then."

Green rubbed the back of his head and tried to ignore the other three who were frowning at the partial treatment. They were the same people, but when it came down to it they couldn't help but feel a little jealous. "Yeah," Green answered.

"Wait." Blue raised a hand, and hopped over to the place where the strange girl had last been. Gripping his sword tightly, his head moved from side to side, searching for the missing girl. "We forgot someone."

Just then, an irritating, forced applause came from the edge of the Palace balcony they were standing on. The girl stood up from where she had been watching, clapping loudly with a snarky expression. "That's right. I was hoping I'd stay forgotten." She laughed when they tensed, and she stuck her hands on her hips. "Aw, no need to look at me like that. I told you I was rooting for you." She tilted her head. "Good job with the extermination. The show was impressive and intense; you had me wringing my hands at several points. Glad to see you're all okay." Grinning, the girl gave a nod towards the princess to acknowledge her presence. It wasn't a respectful nod, however, and Zelda could sense a bit of mockery in it.

Vio took on a no-nonsense tone. "We're taking you with us to Hyrule," he stated. "We'd like to know several things."

The girl scoffed sarcastically. "Sure, go ahead. I know I seem suspicious."

"Very," Blue agreed.

"Oh, so the blue boy doesn't like me?" she feigned a frown.

"Not really. I think we should also tie you up, just in case you don't try anything."

"Ugh… that won't be necessary."

This time, the princess stepped forward with full authority. "How do we know we can trust you?" she asked sternly yet gently. Though Zelda could feel herself getting annoyed by the other girl's lack of respect, she wasn't one to lose her temper often.

The armored girl laughed. "How should I know? I can't lie and tell you that it's fine to trust me."

"You're not helping your situation here," Blue muttered under his breath.

"There is another thing I want to ask," Zelda continued. This time, the princess gave the other girl a frightening look that Link had never seen Zelda make before. "You also seem to hold a dark presence behind where you stand. What is it?" Zelda thought she knew what it was, but until she saw for herself she couldn't be sure. It felt like the same presence she had become accustomed to hating over the past several weeks.

"Oh, that?" The girl perked up, her light blue eyes gleaming. "That's probably… " she jumped over a fallen pillar and disappeared momentarily. A few seconds later, she came back dragging a figure in lavender behind her, "… him."

"Eh, who's that?" Green tried to get a better look.

At this point, Zelda was on the verge of losing her cool with the girl. "I repeat my earlier question, how can we trust you?" she began in a dangerous tone. "Especially now that you have one of the most dangerous people alive with you?" She narrowed her eyes when the other girl merely shrugged carelessly, and the princess turned to Green who was standing next to her. "The one she holds is none other than Vaati in his Hylian form," Zelda explained. She had seen Vaati in that form several times during her imprisonment, and she still despised him for everything he had made her go through. Sometimes she hated her own Wisdom and her instinct to stay civil; sometimes she wished she could call forth her fury towards people like this suspicious girl who appeared to have some connection with the wicked sorcerer.

"That's him?" Blue looked skeptically at the pale figure. He wasn't very impressed by the sorcerer's skinny physique and his unhealthy looking complexion.

"Yeah, I was disappointed too." The girl prodded the prone mage with her foot like he was a disagreeable dead animal.

Vio's usually calm voice began to show an edge of annoyance. "Can you please answer our question, and perhaps tell us who you are?" He took a threatening step forward. "We're getting impatient."

"The girl looked up and waved him away. "Oh hey, don't worry. I'll tell you about myself when you take me to Hyrule," she glanced at Blue, "without being tied up." She was about to continue on into another nonchalant banter until she saw the hostile look on everyone's face. Finally realizing they were all reaching the end of their patience, the girl gave a nervous, apologetic laugh. "Ummm, you can call me Opal, by the way," she added hurriedly.

"For the last time, you haven't answered our question," Zelda repeated.

Almost like a child, the girl gave a dramatic sigh and shook her head. "I don't ask you to trust me," she began softly, "and I never even intended to stick around until the end of the battle." Her eyes abruptly glinted and her condescending tone returned. Waving her hand towards the four heroes in exasperation, she rolled her eyes. "It's your fault I stuck around. To be honest, you four didn't seem competent enough to defeat old Ganon."

Insulted, Green's eyebrow arched slowly. "… So, you're saying we can't trust you."

Opal laughed, her mocking tone returning. "Oh no. Whether you trust me or not, I'm leaving that all up to you. Just remember though," she grinned, wagging a finger, "you owe me one, your Highness."

"I… what?" Zelda cocked her head in surprise. Then, a look of understanding passed her face. She began slowly. "Were you the one who –"

"Saved you from Ganon by switching one piece of the world to another so you could escape the king's attack? I'd say definitely yes." Truimphant, Opal turned to address Green and laughed teasingly. "I don't think your princess would be too happy if you mistreated the one who saved her, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, but if you are an associate of Vaati then you are a danger to my people," Zelda reasoned. With these words, Opal frowned and scratched her head.

"Aw, you must hold a pretty big grudge against Vaati huh…"

"And why shouldn't we?"

"Right. You should have a grudge on him," the girl agreed.

Zelda didn't say anything. She was having trouble following Opal's flippant attitude.

"He's twisted and messed up, and probably made your life quite miserable; it's only natural to want to get rid of him, too," Opal nodded. "However, I ask you to trust me on this one point. I cast a spell on him that will prevent him from using magic as long as I'm alive. Understand?" She pointed to herself earnestly. "Me.  _Alive_. Please don't even think about executing me."

Zelda gave the other girl a long, hard look. She could feel this girl wasn't exactly a friend of Hyrule from the way a lingering darkness affected her as well, but she had saved her from Ganon after all. That must mean she is, at the very least, an enemy of the dark king or someone with a neutral allegiance working for another agenda. There was one last thing the princess needed to make sure before she could agree to bring this girl to Hyrule in peace. "Let me see Vaati."

Opal stepped aside from Vaati. "Go right ahead, your Highness."

Zelda walked over and knelt beside the unconscious sorcerer. She felt a tinge of repulsion as she thought of how he had jeered and tormented her for weeks in a sadistic form of pleasure. Zelda felt a small twinge of satisfaction at seeing him in such a helpless state: oh how much he would hate himself if he knew what he was like right now.

Passing her hands above him, she found the tracings of the binding spell Opal had mentioned. With her own magic, she tested the bonds. After several minutes, Zelda was satisfied that the girl had been telling the truth.

"All right," she took a deep breath. "We are taking you to Hyrule and for the time being we will trust that you won't do anything to betray our trust."

The other girl grinned. "Why thank y-"

"Break our trust," Zelda interrupted severely, "and you will immediately be an enemy of Hyrule and will be treated as a criminal."

"… Yes your Highness," Opal mumbled, the grin disappearing.

"Let's go back to Hyrule," Blue declared. He noticed Zelda shaking her head when she recognized what he was going to ask. He then saw Opal's expression and he sighed. "Fine, we won't tie you up."


	3. The Render

**Chapter 3: The Render**

Back at Hyrule Castle, Zelda and Opal were waiting for Link to return from the Four Sword Temple. He had gone to return the legendary sword to its pedestal to complete the seal that kept Ganon from coming back with fury. The princess rested her head in her hands tiredly as she sat behind her administrative desk. After spending so much time living in constant worry about her country's well being, she wanted nothing more than to go back to her own room and shut herself in for a few weeks. Upon her arrival, the members of the Council had hounded her with questions – she knew they had been worried about her, but they didn't realize that she wasn't too keen on going over official business so soon. Alas, as a princess she had responsibilities and she couldn't ignore them: one of which was dealing with the girl who had, according to Link, saved Vaati from his final blow.

Opal was sitting in a simple chair in the middle of the room between two of her guards. She looked bored, and she swung her legs restlessly.

"Princess Zelda, we can leave my interrogation for another day if you feel tired." There was a hopeful, mischievous tone to her voice.

The princess wearily eyed Opal. "No, I think the matters concerning you are too important and possibly dangerous to leave for another afternoon."

The other girl frowned for a fleeting moment at the word 'dangerous.' It was a look that made Zelda feel a little guilty, since she was also aware that this person was someone who had saved her life. Still, without knowing her motives, the princess felt that caution was necessary.

Opal sulked. "Fine. It's your choice if you want to listen to me after all those hours you spent talking and explaining to those dreadfully boring and dim officials." She sneered, recovering her usual snippy character in a second.

"Please, Opal, just stay patient until Link comes back from the Four Sword Temple. He has every right to be present at this hearing as do I."

"Hmph." Opal huffed. Her eyes wandered left and right, and then they took on a nasty light when they landed on the two guards standing next to her. She decided to occupy herself by glowering angrily at the guard on her left who was watching her every move, and she enjoyed watching him shift his weight uncomfortably from the glaring.

The guard was trained to give minimal reactions to potential criminals lest they proved to be master manipulators, but there was only so much glaring he could take when he felt he didn't really deserve it. Besides, the look the girl was giving him made him imagine her with claws and fangs, ready to pounce and mutilate him in a bloody mess. Frankly, he was surprised a human could look like that.

The guard finally gave in. "Look, miss. Just be glad we didn't decide to throw you into jail scheduled for a hanging like that Vaati."

Opal perked up, happy to have garnered a reaction. A sly smile appeared on her face. "You can't hang me, I didn't do anything wrong!"

"You protected Hyrule's most wanted criminal."

"As well as Hyrule's most esteemed princess. What do you say to that?"

The guard looked unsure of himself. "In that case, we'll probably just keep you in jail," he said slowly.

The girl scoffed. "Keep me in jail? You underestimate me."

At that moment, there was a knock and the door behind her swung open. Zelda stood up from her seat, and Link stepped inside the room as a single entity instead of his four selves. He walked over to the guard's side and gave Opal a flat look. "You underestimate Hyrule."

"Link! You're back and safe. How are you?" Zelda walked around the desk towards him. She dismissed the guards, assuring them that they were no longer needed now that Link was here. The guards glanced at Opal uncertainly before they turned and strutted out of the room. Opal, on the other hand, scowled upon the arrival of Link but she also appeared relieved that the watchful eyes were finally going to go away.

Link gave a half-hearted laugh. "It's a bit weird, I guess. I used to think I was better working alone, but now I find myself looking around for the others." He shrugged. "I'll get used to it."

He offered a seat to the princess, and then he crossed his arms, rounding on Opal who straightened up in her seat. "So, I hope we'll get the full explanations now? No more games, no more dodging the questions?"

Opal bit her lip, taken aback by Link's suddenness. Well, it was true she'd pushed everyone's buttons a bit. She supposed the most unnerving part was that this Link had all the characteristics of the four individual Links – the aggressiveness of Green, the temper of Blue, the naïveté of Red, and the sharpness of Vio. After a moment, she regained her composure and shrugged. "Do you really think I'll hide anything from this country's hero?" She grinned knowing full well they didn't trust anything she said.

"I'm not even going to begin answering that one," Link replied with a glower.

Opal laughed, and then made herself comfortable in her chair. She swung her legs around and lazily draped her arm over the backrest. "Let's start, then, with a question," she began. "How familiar are you with the Picori festival that took place during the first attack of Vaati?"

Link looked towards Zelda for help. History never really interested him, and this was more along the expertise of the princess. Zelda nodded. "If I remember correctly, Vaati had turned the princess to stone and had released monsters across Hyrule."

"You know your history well, your Highness," Opal said with approval. "Do you happen to remember how the monsters were released?"

Zelda frowned as she tried to recollect such esoteric trivia. "There was a box…"

Next to her, Link was growing impatient. He prided himself in having more patience than the average person, but this girl was getting on his nerves. "Look, Opal, would you just give us the facts? I said no more games."

The girl's lips flattened in disappointment. "Very well, Link, I apologize," she waved without sounding too apologetic. "It was my fault it didn't occur to me how boring my questions would be to someone uneducated on the history of Hyrule."

Link growled, but he refrained from making a comment. Giving her feedback would only allow her to create delays even more.

Opal twirled the strands of her hair between her fingers carelessly as she continued. "In any case, Princess Zelda, you're right again. There was a box: A box full of monsters sealed by the ancient Picori blade. The blade is the blade you were wielding only moments before," her eyes moved to Link, "the Four Sword."

Zelda's expression became increasingly stern as she realized where the girl was going with this conversation. She didn't say anything for the time being, however, in case she was mistaken. The princess allowed the other girl to continue.

"The tradition of the festival was that the winner of the swordsmanship tournament would be able to see the sacred blade and the box that held the monsters. Vaati won the tournament, and so he was able to remove the sword from its resting place and release the monsters inside." Pausing, Opal gave Zelda a quizzical look. "Did you have a question, your Highness?"

Zelda was now absolutely sure she knew what Opal was. "Monsters… Opal… sealed by the Four Sword…" Zelda uttered, an expression of astonishment apparent on her face. "You're one of _them_  – one of the ore class demons."

Opal's eyes glinted. Then, she gave a slow, wide smile. This time, it was evident that her teeth were more fang-like than normal, and Zelda could catch a faint lisp that made her end her sentences with a hiss. It was extremely subtle, but it was noticeable now that attention had been called towards it. "You're on a roll, your Highness." She swung her legs around so that her shoulders were square with her listeners. "Opal was the name given to me by the humans who feared us. There were more: Zircon the Gleerok, Peridot the Manhandla, and Onyx the Molgera are just a few examples."

"And you?" Zelda asked, now extremely cautious of the girl who had been revealed to be a demon.

"I am Opal the Render."

Link, not quite following the conversation due to his lack of knowledge on Hylian history, interrupted them. "What are the ore class demons?"

Opal nodded towards Zelda. "I think the princess can explain better than I can."

"Ore class demons," Zelda began slowly, "were a group of monsters who weren't on the same level as the common monsters that once freely roamed Hyrule before the emergence of the Four Sword. They were true titans, and though they were rare it spelled disaster for those who were unfortunate enough to encounter them. After the legendary Minish race presented us with the Four Sword, our people were able to drive these demons away until they no longer presented a viable threat. During times when Hyrule was under a crisis did they sporadically reappear, but for the most part they have long since been considered extinct."

"So the monsters I fought," Link quipped, "like that enormous frozen eyeball…"

"Ore class," Opal nodded. "You're talking about Frostare." She laughed. "Haha, yeah, back in my time they used to call him Larimar the Kholdstare."

"Okay, then if you're one of those boss monsters then were you working for Vaati?" Link's hand strayed towards the sword that hung by his hips.

Opal looked at him severely. "Excuse me, but I was working on my own." She bit her lip and looked at the ceiling, trying to remember where she was in her story. Then, she snapped her fingers when she remembered. "Right, so the Picori Festival. Basically, Vaati graciously freed me along with a bunch of other monsters from that box when he knocked the sword out of its pedestal. Being grateful, I made it my mission to help that guy out if he needed it." She crossed her arms over her chest, daring them to challenge her. "I know he doesn't have the best character in the world, but he got me out of that hellhole and for that, I wanted to repay him. Therefore, I saved him from being sealed  _again_  by that stupid, annoying sword."

"Just how old are you?" Link blurted.

Opal shot a look at Link. "That's a pretty rude question to ask a lady, don't you think?"

"You're a monster. You don't really count as a 'lady.'"

The silence that followed the remark made Link question his intelligence for making it.

"Okay, that's a fair question," the girl finally replied. Link let out an inward sigh; he still didn't know how much damage the demon could cause. "I've stopped counting years, but its safe to say I'm several hundred years old. Our kind can live a long time."

The previous silence had made Link uneasy, and his hand strayed towards his sword again. Apparently Zelda felt the same, and she quickly jumped to a question to divert attention.

"But what happened when he was sealed the second time?" Zelda asked. "Didn't you help him then?"

Opal, whose eyes had narrowed and was carefully watching Link's sword, turned to address the question. She looked up and the fleeting, nettled expression vanished. "Well he didn't make it easy for me to help him." She then proceeded to glare at Link. "And neither did your predecessors with that nasty little sword. I was willing to help, but I wasn't willing to go on a suicide mission like some of those other fools who followed Vaati to his doom." She rolled her eyes. "They should've known that it was over for us from the Dark Faction once the Minish made the Four Sword. They should have done what I did and given up on having a World of Darkness – at least I stayed alive longer than they did!"

Opal turned from Zelda and Link who appeared puzzled by her rant. "Oh, you shrimps are too young to know anything about the Light and Dark Factions, huh…" When Zelda and Link nodded and confirmed that they didn't know, the girl threw her arms in the air impatiently and mumbled something about giving a history lesson. "Fine. Then listen up you two," she raised a declaratory finger in the air. "A long time ago, there used to be two factions, the Dark and Light. They were at constant war with each other to claim dominance over the world; one faction had to be eradicated because neither could coexist."

She waved her hand in the air, signifying the general surroundings. "The world you see today is the world of the winners in that conflict: the the World of Light. The races encompassing what you people call demons such as the moblins and stalfos are part of the Dark faction, and thus have gained negative connotations in this Light dominated world. In my opinion, the war was concluded when the Light faction created the Four Sword – we could do nothing against the one who wielded it."

Link shifted his weight at the mention of his sword while Opal continued her story.

"It also didn't help that we were generally lacking in cohesion like the races of the Light faction – we were independent, and especially those of us from the group you call the ore class demons didn't enjoy working together. We were probably more powerful as a whole, but in the end we ended up losing and the world came to the ownership of the Light faction."

Opal laughed bitterly. "So you see, the only reason why demons are considered evil is because this is now a World of Light. We are an undesirable minority here, and you people seek to eradicate whatever is left of us." She then shrugged indifferently. "I don't seek sympathy, mind you. You were the winners after all, and had we won instead we would have acted the same way."

Link and Zelda exchanged uncomfortable glances. The blond hero who had had the most exposure with monsters appeared especially troubled. "Hold on," he frowned, "you make it sound as though  _we_  were the ones who unjustly called you evil." His frown deepened when Opal simply nodded.

"In my opinion, things like this are all a matter on what your point of view is. If you stop and think about it, both sides - Light and Dark – are after the same thing. We both want the world to ourselves without the other half."

"But the Dark faction – those monsters – they slaughter us mercilessly! The Dark faction is evil," Link retorted.

Opal scoffed. "And would you say you don't do the same to us?"

"I…" Link hesitated, and then looked away when he couldn't give a good answer.

Satisfied, the girl sneered unhappily. "Here's something to think about: is it the heroes who always win, or is it the winners who are always heroes?" Opal gave a snort. "I'm sure if we had won instead,  _we_ would be heroes and you would be the greatest evil on earth."

"But the goddesses…" Link persisted stubbornly, albeit much less confidently than before, "they're always on our side, and they're forces of good."

"They are forces of good  _because_  they align themselves with the winners, the Light faction," Opal replied crisply. "The people of the Light faction believe in deities and supreme beings, but we of the Dark faction believe in no such things. Goddesses and deities are simply creatures with more power than the rest. The Dark faction used to have powerful beings that you could consider deities, but we only recognized them as superior creatures capable of making the same mistakes that we do." She raised a hand, stopping Link who had opened his mouth to talk. "Before you say anything, I'm not saying deities don't exist – it's just that the Dark faction doesn't believe in them like you do. No one really knows who's right, and I'm not about to get into a theological discussion. That's besides the point."

A heavy silence enveloped the room. Neither Link nor Zelda knew how to react since their previous beliefs on the creatures of the Dark had been brought to question. They needed some time to digest everything that had been said. Eventually, Link stood up and walked over to the window, disturbed by what Opal had said.

The girl smiled nastily and propped her hands behind the back of her head. She addressed the princess. "So there you have it, your Highness. Did you find out everything you wanted to know?"

Zelda nodded slowly, biting her lip as though unsure of herself. "Yes." Then, she added, "thank you."

"Permission to leave?"

The princess gave a tired sigh, and then shook her head. She knew the other girl wasn't going to like what she was going to say, but she had no other choice. "No."

Opal shot out of her chair. She bared her teeth in a feral snarl. "What?"

"I apologize, Opal, but there is no way I can let someone like you run around freely in this country. Now that we know you feel you have a debt to Vaati as well as the fact that you are an ore class demon, we have to keep you under bars." Zelda hung her head. Her gut feeling told her that the girl wasn't a dangerous character herself and probably wasn't out to get revenge on all of Hyrule, but logically speaking she couldn't simply let someone like her walk free.

Unsurprisingly, Opal became very upset. "You can't do that! I saved you!"

The princess uncharacteristically stumbled over her words before she managed hoarsely, "I have no other choice. I hope you understand."

The other girl seethed, and the monstrous aspects of her that she had been carefully hiding became increasingly apparent. Her demon-like eyes with slits for pupils flared in anger. "So after everything I told you, I'm just another monster to you? I thought you of all people would be able to understand!"

"I must think of my people before anything else."

Opal growled. "I was stupid," she balled her fists. "I was stupid," she repeated, "for learning to have an open mind for you people. After that hero of yours started hunting us down with the Four Sword I was lucky to be able to blend in as a Hylian with my magic – lucky because I could stay alive, and lucky because I could also learn that Dark and Light aren't so different from each other. But what use is that knowledge when everyone else is still stuck with the old prejudice?" She took a step towards Zelda threateningly, making Link cautiously pull out his sword from where he was standing. "You think I still want to obliterate your country, do you?"

Before Zelda could say anything, the girl suddenly rounded on Link. "Well then, why don't you just get rid of me while you can? You look ready, Link; why not kill me now?"

Startled, Link took a step back from Opal. She didn't look entirely sane. "I…" he glanced at his sword. The situation changed when someone asked you to stab them.

Opal raged. "Link! Just how hard is it to kill another monster?" She made as though to stab herself, and then abruptly turned around and collapsed in the chair she had been sitting on earlier and began to cry. Link dropped the sword on the floor, and the metal clattered loudly to mute the hushed sobs. On instinct of seeing someone cry, he reached out reflexively. He was jolted when the girl just as suddenly lashed out viciously, slapping his hand away from him. She didn't say anything and only let out a long, chilling hiss before she ran out of the room.

Zelda stood up and looked after the door where the girl had disappeared behind. It took several minutes for the princess and the hero to recover from what had just happened. The princess shook her head. "I…" she stopped, and then began again. "I think… I'll think I'll see what I can do about keeping a watch on her."

Dazed, it took a moment for him to realize that Zelda had said something. "Oh. Yeah." He pinched the bridge of his nose, and then crouched down to pick up the sword he had dropped. At the moment, he felt sick from holding his sword. "Yeah," he said again slowly. Then, he chuckled apologetically. "Sorry, I think I want to be alone for a little bit." With that, he quietly stepped out of the room to ruminate on his own.

XXXXXXXXXX

Opal stopped running to catch her breath. She had run around the castle to make her way to the castle gardens. It was half an hour since she had dashed out of the room, and no one had stopped her or asked what she was doing without an escort. The fake tears from earlier had long since disappeared, and as she trotted over to one of the benches to lounge she gave a satisfied snicker.

She had probably overreacted towards the princess: in fact, she hadn't been at all surprised that Zelda had told her she couldn't freely walk out of Hyrule. However, she knew weakening resolve when she saw it, and there was no way she wasn't going to take advantage of it.

"Silly Hylians," she laughed to herself. Opal had seen at once that Zelda and Link were beginning to feel guilty about keeping her under bars. Why not play with that guilt so that they might change their minds, and maybe even let her go? The chances of that happening were minimal, but it was worth a shot.

A characteristic of the people of the Light faction, she had learned, was that they were awfully sentimental. Show weakness, and they pitied and forgave you. Crying was especially effective, and they were absolutely killer if you were female. The demons never really understood why showing weakness was a good thing – if you were a demon and you showed weakness, you ran a high risk of being killed in the next instant. The Dark faction rarely held respect for the weak.

Stretching, she was about to lie across the bench to relax when a strange movement caught her eye. Someone who had been walking through the garden path had hesitated upon seeing her, and then had continued walking in the other direction with a near dejected air. Sitting back up, Opal took a look around to see that it was Link. His shoulders were hunched over in a way that showed he was upset over something.

The girl snickered quietly. She thought she knew why he wasn't feeling well. "Silly Hylians," she repeated.


	4. Vaati

**Chapter 4: Vaati**

Link unhappily trudged along the path of Hyrule Castle garden. He enjoyed walking through the garden when he wanted to be alone – it was a quaint place without the bustling nature of Castle town.

He had been highly disturbed by what Opal had said. It had never occurred to him that those fierce creatures with their drool dripping fangs would be anything like the composed races of the Light world.

There was no way. Link tried to imagine being tolerant of a World of Darkness. He shook his head – he just couldn't get his head around the idea to exist in a World of Darkness. Perhaps that just proved Opal's point that Light and Dark couldn't coexist without conflict…

It had made him really upset when Opal had cried. He had a small inkling that she hadn't been completely sincere, but she had also been able to replicate the emotion of pain in a way that had made him feel guilty. It disturbed him regardless of whether or not she had been sincere or not: it meant she understood how emotions worked, and that was a human enough reaction to make him have second thoughts on his simple theory of good and bad.

As he kicked a pebble out of his way, the small stone bounced along the path and clattered against a stone fountain. His eyes followed the pebble, which led them towards a girl who was lazing around on top of a bench. He froze; it was Opal, and he wasn't too keen on meeting her at the moment. Trying to seem natural so as not to attract attention, Link continued down the path and away from the girl.

It was too late, however, for Opal had noticed Link's odd hesitation out of the corner of her eye. Much to the girl's amusement, the hero flinched at the sound of her voice.

"Hmmm, Link? You don't look too good," she snuck around towards his right, "just saying."

Link sighed. "No offense, but I want to be alone right now." When she didn't leave, he wondered if demons couldn't get the hint when someone wanted them to go away. In truth, Opal was just enjoying the fact that her mere presence was making the enemy of all monsters fidget uncomfortably.

"Ohhh, you're wondering what I said earlier, aren't you?" she asked mischievously.

Link shot her an irate look. He tried the direct approach. "Just leave me alone. You're the last person in all of Hyrule,  _including Ganondorf,_  I want to see right now, so please," he quickened his pace, "just go away."

Much to his dismay, the girl continued to follow him with impish annoyingness. "It never occurred to you that there's no such thing as good and evil that's clearly understood, hmm?"

Link refused to answer and the two rushed through the gardens at an awkward, unnaturally quick pace. Some of the guards who had been patrolling the area stopped to stare at the strange sight. Finally, Link was sufficiently pestered to stop and take a moment to address Opal who continued following him like a wet leaf. "Where are your escorts anyway? You're not supposed to be walking around without one."

Opal's lips flattened into a thin line. "I don't need one."

"Look, Princess Zelda doesn't want you walking around without one for the time being. It's not about whether or not you need one – these escorts aren't for your protection, but to keep an eye on you." He explained the last part with a mutter.

The girl suppressed a grin. She decided to play the pity card. Dropping her eyes to the ground, she tried to make herself look as sorry as possible. "I hate it when people don't trust me…"

"Just, ugh! I don't want to deal with you right now." Exasperated, he stormed off. "If you're bored, go to the library or something! Leave me alone!"

Opal snickered on the inside. On the outside, she kept her appearance as pitiful as possible. "Okay. I'll go to the library then." She stopped following Link and let the hero continue on. "Where is the library?" An idea occurred to her at the mention of the library – though she hadn't considered it at first, Link's mention of it made her realize that it was a good idea to check it out.

Link muttered something under his breath and pointed in the general direction of the library. He quickly walked out of sight, leaving the girl standing in the middle of the garden path by herself. Once sure he was gone and out of earshot, she allowed herself to go into fits of amused giggles. "Hehehe, thanks hero!" She scampered off towards the Royal library. "Good luck with that moral conundrum of yours!"

XXXXXXX

Two days later in the lower dungeons of Hyrule Castle, a battered figure shifted its weight as it groggily and reluctantly entered consciousness. The figure grumbled when it heard chains clatter along the cold floor, realizing that its limbs were bound. Vaati's red eyes blinked open and he fell back to the floor with a hand on his head.

"Ugh…" He winced from the remnants of a headache, and he took a moment to recover. "What the hell…? I thought I died." The last thing he remembered seeing was the four Links preparing to land the final blow. For all he knew, he should have been in the next world, or sealed within that blasted sword  _again_.

Fixing the cap on his head and vainly straightening out the wrinkles in his cape, the sorcerer took a good look at where he had woken up once he was satisfied with his presentation. He wondered briefly why he was no longer in his demon form, but he quickly shrugged it off as an unimportant detail.

He was in a jail cell – that much was obvious. The dank, moldy smell and the gloomy air that pervaded the place was characteristic of a dungeon. Oh, and the steel bars that caged him inside and the heavy-set guard sitting by the door was hint enough.

 _Throwing me in jail,_  Vaati frowned disapprovingly,  _who do they think I am?_ It was an insult to be put in a musky prison like a common criminal.

He took a better look at the chains around his wrists. The sorcerer experimentally tried to cast a spell, and he wasn't surprised when he failed to do so.  _Of course,_  he thought with a glower,  _they wouldn't just keep me here with my full abilities._  Vaati concluded that the chains were the reason why he couldn't cast magic; he was blissfully unaware that he was currently under a curse by Opal.

Once he had assessed his situation, Vaati began to feel his temper rise. He reasoned that it would have been better if he'd been sealed within the Four Sword – at least then he would know that they had acknowledged his danger. Putting him in a cell like this was like telling him he wasn't even worth the extra precautions. "All I get," he seethed under his breath, "is a little cell like a common criminal and  _one_  guard.  _One_. They couldn't even get two."

He snapped his wrists apart so that the chains between them clanked loudly, and his knuckles whitened as he clenched his fists. He gnashed his teeth together in frustration, and then he took a deep breath to calm down. Vaati reminded himself that the guard was aware of his every move, and he didn't want his captors to see that he was upset. If there was anything he learned from his experience of being a serial kidnapper, it was that it gave captors increased confidence and power when their captives showed weakness. Vaati the Wind Sorcerer was  _not_ going to give his captors that liberty. Oh no, if anything, he was going to give  _them_  something to worry about.

Deciding he was going to think about his escape once he felt better about himself, Vaati considered the guard sitting by his jail cell. An idea lit up in his head, and an evil little smile crept up the side of his lips.

Not worried in the slightest about his position, the sorcerer stood up and stretched. His movement made the guard turn his head to check on the prisoner before he went back to staring forward dutifully in silence. Vaati decided to make himself feel better by harassing the guard.

"You fools are playing a dangerous game by keeping me here to do as I please," he approached the edge of his jail cell, and he let his fingers trail along the bars. His silky voice turned into a whisper for increased effect. "And they only posted one of you to guard me. You are terribly unlucky to be stuck here with only me as your company."

The guard kept his silence. He had been trained not to pay too much attention to dangerous prisoners like Vaati. Intrigued by the guard's adamant silence, the sorcerer continued with a sinister smile. "Is Hyrule so stupid as to think that this will be able to keep me in check? I should think that I would be more deserving to have an army to keep watch of me." He laughed proudly. "After all, I am the most powerful sorcerer in the world."

Still chuckling, Vaati moved off towards the wall and leaned against it lazily. "Or maybe there's only one of you because Hyrule only has the funds to keep one of you here with me. Considering what a dull and tedious occupation a dungeon guard must be, I must imagine that the pay will have to be significant." His crimson eyes glinted. "Unless only the most incompetent fools are sent to work here as punishment. You must be one of the deficient ones, my friend."

The insult finally struck a nerve with the guard. To be called deficient and called a "friend" as though they were on the same level (because to the guard, Vaati was on the same plane as the sewer rats) was a verbal slap in the face. To the Wind Mage's delight, he finally spoke.

"I am the best guard in Hyrule," he growled. "For all the fifty two criminals I've kept watch, none of them have ever escaped, so don't you even think about getting out of here."

"Ah, then they must have been petty criminals?" Vaati scoffed. "If they hadn't been able to get past you, why, they couldn't have been resourceful or important like me."

"I have only guarded the highest offenders of Hyrule, Wind Mage." The guard's head slowly tilted towards Vaati. "I'm not one to take lightly."

The sorcerer perked up with fake enthusiasm. "Indeed? Then I apologize for besmirching your dignity." Vaati absentmindedly picked the dust out of the bangs that washed over the right side of his face into a single point by his chin. He then continued with apparent interest, all the while holding his nasty sneer. "Fifty two, did you say?" Vaati pushed himself off of the wall he had been leaning against to stand by the guard again. Gripping the steel bars, he let his face approach as close as possible to make the guard more uncomfortable. "Then you must have been here a long time," he said in a low hiss.

The guard said nothing, though he scooted his chair away from Vaati's cell because he didn't like his proximity to the dangerous sorcerer. Vaati chuckled.

"Do you enjoy it here? Sitting with the prisoners in this dark, cold dungeon, it's hardly an enjoyable occupation in my opinion." He waited for a response, but upon getting none, Vaati pushed persistently. "Why, if it weren't for the fact that you don't have these prison bars around you, I would have mistaken you for a criminal myself."

"That's nonsense," the guard snapped.

Again, Vaati's smile broadened when he managed to make the guard respond. "Of course not," he said matter-of-factly. "You sit in prison almost all day, sacrificing your time outside to move freely in order to 'guard prisoners.'" The sorcerer emphasized the last part sarcastically. "How different does that make you from prisoners? Granted you get to go out during your free hours, but for the most part you stay here don't you?"

"It's my job," the guard replied flatly as though it were obvious.

Vaati scoffed. "Hmph. That's what they tell you." He snickered knowingly. "I know people like you. In fact, I had several under my command when I had Hyrule under control: fools who were too much trouble for me to throw in the dungeons, but nonetheless bothersome if I stationed them anywhere else." Vaati sniffed haughtily. "The easiest way to take care of those idiots is to give them a 'job' and make them believe it's important. Oh," his eyes narrowed and pinned the guard to the spot, "doesn't that sound a lot like someone here?"

The poor guard stubbornly tried to turn deaf ears on the sorcerer. He had been warned against mind games like these, and he knew that it was his job to ignore comments like these. Still, once an idea was planted in your head, it was hard to undo. Vaati went on with all the gleeful confidence of one who knows he's won.

"Perhaps you should ask the princess about it? If you're so important, I believe you should be relegated to some other job." The sorcerer eyed the guard for a little while longer, and then realizing that he had done all he could to torment the guard, he went to the back corner of his tiny cell and stretched across the floor. With a cat-like yawn, he decided to relax until he felt like figuring out how to escape. He still felt fatigued from being unconscious, and the enjoyable exchange with the guard only helped a little in alleviating his dissatisfaction.

Vaati glared at the handcuffs around his wrists. If only they would come off…  _How dare they reduce me to a mere prisoner!_

He had only dozed off for a few minutes when a startled yelp followed by the clatter of a stool falling on its side woke him up with a jolt. He wondered if the guard had actually decided to quit his job because of his earlier nagging. Rolling over, Vaati saw to his surprise that an unannounced visitor had arrived. A young girl in armor had popped into existence in the middle of the dungeon cell, and she was gawking at the guard. The guard was frozen in place with the same degree of shock – the last thing he had expected was a girl materializing in front of him while he kept watch of the most dangerous sorcerer in the world.

With a smirk, Vaati sat up to watch the events unfold. He never would have imagined how exciting being a captive could be.

XXXXXXXX

"Er…" Opal took a step back from the guard who was gaping at her in astonishment. She had thought she had planned everything for breaking Vaati out of jail, but she realized her mistake when she forgot to take into account the castle guards.  _Wow, fail._

Raising her hands, she quickly moved to take action. Before the guard could realize what she was doing, she had warped him away to the room she had been assigned at the castle. Opal reckoned that for at least ten minutes, he would be stuck in her room that had been locked from the outside to keep her from leaving – she had been able to sneak out thanks to teleportation.

Opal collapsed momentarily from exhaustion before she was able to straighten herself out and catch her breath. This plan was crude and rushed at best, and she was glad that her only miscalculation so far was the presence of the guard.  _If it weren't for Princess Zelda, I would have been able to come up with a better, well thought out plan._

After Opal had made her way to the library two days ago on the suggestion of Link, she had perused through the castle floor plans to judge where and how she was going to warp to the dungeon cells. Unfortunately, Zelda had sent escorts to find her shortly after and the princess had grown suspicious when they reported what she had been doing in the library. A day ago Opal had been restricted to stay in her room, and when she snuck out again she had found the door locked from the outside. Realizing she was now in danger of being jailed like Vaati due to growing suspicions, Opal knew she had no time to lose.

"Interesting. Is that a variation of the common warping spell?"

A smooth voice interrupted her thoughts, and she turned to find an extremely pale sorcerer sitting cross-legged in the middle of his cell. The smirk on his face was chilling, and for a second she questioned why she was even helping him.  _Well, I'd made a vow to help and I don't go back on my words,_  she thought to herself.

Vaati mused. "It looked as though you replaced the space around that guard with space from somewhere else – a swap warp if you will. Am I right?"

"Yeah." She regarded the sorcerer with curiosity. He didn't appear to be concerned at all even though he should have been, and only his fierce eyes betrayed the rage that he was undoubtedly feeling from being a prisoner. Opal decided to ask. "By the way, aren't you worried?"

Vaati shrugged. "I don't see why I should be worried." At this, the girl looked at him as though he was an idiot, but the sorcerer didn't seem to notice. Before she could say anything, he continued on. "Also, who might you be?" Vaati stood up and approached the bars that separated the two. Opal was glad that the bars were there: she had heard rumors that the wind mage was a notorious womanizer, and from the way he was looking at her she could believe every word that he had an interest in almost everything that could pass as a woman.

The girl took a step back. "Someone you helped a long time ago. However unintentional that was, I'm here to repay your services."

"Help?" Vaati gave her a scornful look. "I don't need any help."

"Oh really? Then I guess I'll just leave you to figure out how to get that spell binding curse off of you," Opal turned her heel. "Good luck, buddy."

"Binding cur –  _hold it_." Vaati's eyes widened, and his words stopped the girl in her tracks. The chains around his wrists tinkled as he brought them closer to his face. Then, his expression darkened. "I thought I couldn't use magic because of these cuffs." Suddenly dropping his self-confident, suave attitude, he glared at Opal. "What happened after I fell unconscious at the Palace of Winds?" he demanded.

"Ha," Opal sneered. "I stopped Link from sealing you in the Four Sword, but I had to agree to bring you here under a binding curse so that they'd keep you alive for the time being."

"What does this curse do?"

"It drains your magic every time you try to cast something. You can only remove it with magic, and since you can't use magic you're stuck until someone decides to remove it for you."

Vaati's glare became increasingly malevolent the more he heard what the curse was like, and his true frightening personality that had been concealed behind his fake pleasantness revealed itself. Threateningly, he gripped the bars of his prison. "Get the curse off of me," he hissed.

Opal shook her head. "And risk the chance that you'd blow up Hyrule with me still in it? Thanks, but I'll pass." She spread her arms to show compromise. "How about I help you out of here, and then I'll give you back your magic?"

The sorcerer didn't say anything for a long time, and the girl occasionally glanced towards the dungeon entrance when she began to worry that they had wasted too much time. Vaati didn't appear to sense any urgency in escaping because he was too caught up in the fact that he was at the mercy of this stranger. He hated her already because she was the reason he had lost his sorcery. Forget the fact she had tried to save him: anyone who reduced him to a powerless state wasn't someone he regarded kindly.

Finally, he muttered, "I kill you now or I kill you later for humiliating me; it doesn't make a difference."

Opal arched her brows. "Was that a 'yes, I'll let you help me?'"

If a glare could physically manifest itself, Opal would have been reduced to ashes by the look Vaati shot her. In return, she regarded him flatly.

"… Okay then, maybe I save your enormous ego and leave you to die."

"You obviously don't know who I am," Vaati snorted, "I'm the Sorcerer of Winds." He said his title proudly as though that explained the entirety of his awesome existence.

Amused more than upset at the wind mage's reactions, Opal leaned against the bars. "Oh yeah, by the way," she snickered a little, "they have you scheduled for your hanging, you know. It's going to be a huge public spectacle. Sorry, I should've known that you wouldn't want to miss a chance where you can be a celebrity."

Vaati gaped disbelievingly at Opal, and then broke into maniacal laughter. It rang through the dungeon, and for a second the girl was sincerely worried that someone was going to come down and check what was going on.

"Me? Hang? What are you, stupid?" He choked and fell on the floor holding his sides. "I'm going to die from laughter," he managed between breaths, "oh goddesses, don't you get it? I can't hang – I control the very  _air_."

Opal didn't look amused anymore. She let the sorcerer laugh it out.

Vaati hiccupped, and continued with a wheeze. "I can't  _hang_. I could just refuse to let gravity take me, or even better, I could just blast the entire audience away. They would love the fireworks for sure."

Opal coughed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Excuse me but, what are you, stupid?" she returned Vaati's earlier comment. The sorcerer stopped laughing, confusion blossoming on his face. "Remember the curse? You 'control the very air?' They would make you the biggest laughingstock in history if you go with that attitude."

A shadow passed over the sorcerer's face as he remembered the curse that prevented him from casting spells. He had become so used to basking in the glory of being the most powerful sorcerer in the world that it had been easy for him to forget what it was like to have his powers revoked. Vaati experimentally tried a simple break spell again. Nothing happened, except this time he noticed faint little runes that spiraled in the air around his wrists like handcuffs. He was cursed, all right, and he couldn't even cast the most elementary of spells.

"Have you sobered up yet? You're not the Great Sorcerer Vaati anymore. You're even worse off than the common peasant until you let me help you," she shrugged, "and unless you agree, your ego's not the only thing that's going to end up dead."

As much as he didn't want to admit it, the girl was right. He had to choose between a crushed ego, or a crushed ego in a dead body. The choice was obvious, but it didn't mean he had to like it. Pulling himself up pretentiously, he glowered in the dungeon's shadows. "Fine," he said slowly, "I concede. Just tell me what to do…"


	5. The Cursed Sorcerer

Vaati paced like a caged animal around the Palace of Winds castle hall. He felt that he should have been at ease in his former home where he had been the master of everything. Now, he felt restless and annoyed, and he was anything but happy even though he had returned to his favorite sanctuary. His blood red eyes occasionally wandered to glare at Opal who had made herself comfortable on an ornate velvet couch. It irritated him all the more when she stretched and nonchalantly looked out the ceiling-high windows: he hated how she was so at ease as though the palace belonged to her. He wished he could just kick her off the couch.

Vaati abruptly stopped pacing and stopped in front of the couch. "Give me my magic back," he demanded, peeved.

Opal barely acknowledged his presence. "Hm?"

"Give me my magic back," he repeated.

"Hm."

"Give me my magic back."

"Hwaa." The girl yawned deliberately.

"Give me my magic back."

"Hmm? Oh look, there's a rare gold Chu over by that –"

" _Give me my magic back or I'LL KILL YOU!_ "

A wall crumbled down somewhere in the palace from the ruckus until only the sound of Vaati's furious huffing was audible. At the end of his patience, Vaati's normally calm face had cracked into one of terrifying rage.

Opal blinked and slowly turned his way. "… Did you just say something?"

Vaati snarled something incomprehensible, and then he rounded on the girl lounging on the couch. He gripped the armrests with his fingers curled like claws and his cape swished behind him. "You promised you'll give me my magic back once we were away from Hyrule."

She waved him away, unimpressed by his threats. "Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm grateful you released me after all: remind me later, okay?"

The sorcerer's face twitched with a hint of insanity, and then it shifted into a dangerous calm. "I'm going to leave this room, and when I return you had better remove this curse off of me or you'll regret ever saving me from that idiot Link."

Opal sighed, and she put her hands behind her head. "I've already explained to you why I can't remove your curse yet. I thought you'd have the sense to see my rationale." She casually looked out the windows again to see the beautiful view of Hyrule field miles down below, partially covered by the clouds. She was beginning to find Vaati's constant anger somewhat old, but it couldn't be helped. After all, he was absolutely pathetic without magic and though he tried to be threatening, Opal just couldn't see how he could be scary without it.

… That is, until his hands suddenly shot out and grabbed her by her neck. Taken by surprise, she couldn't do anything when he slammed her head against the backrest of the couch and pinned her down with his knee.

"You mean why you  _don't want to_  give it back to me," his voice came out in a low hiss. He smirked maliciously when the girl wheezed in an effort to catch her breath, and he dug his knee into her ribs harder. "I really think you should give it back before I come up with more ways to hurt you."

Had Opal been an ordinary girl and not some demon that took the appearance of one, Vaati would have been able to overpower her easily. Unfortunately for the sorcerer, Opal just so happened to be a demon and he was roughly shoved off, and forced to take a few steps back away from the girl. Opal spluttered and growled, rubbing her neck with a free hand.

"Cut it out," she snapped. She hadn't expected him to be so threatening, and for the second time that day she wondered if she should let loose this sorcerer who was continuing to prove his questionable sanity.

Vaati cracked his fingers and sniffed. "Hmph. You are unwise in testing my patience, brat."

 _There he goes again with that confidence of his,_  she rolled her eyes. Opal leaned back against the couch again. Keeping a cautious eye on the sorcerer, she twirled her bangs around her finger. "Anyways," she said lazily, "you can rephrase it all you want, but the reasoning behind my refusal to remove the curse remains the same. It takes a lot of energy to warp long distances, and the route from your jail cell to the top of the Palace of Winds is very far," she observed her nails, "meaning I'm a bit worn out. If I remove the curse off of you now, I'm not sure I'd be able to escape very far without you catching me and killing me like you so calmly stated a moment ago."

Vaati smirked. "That doesn't bother me so much."

"Yeah, well, it bothers  _me._ "

The sorcerer sneered. "Either way, if you become so worn out by a simple warping spell you're not going to stand a chance against me tired or not. Why don't we get this over with since the result is going to be the same?"

Opal gave him a long look. "I would like to point out that I still hold all power over you and threatening to kill me isn't helping your cause. Also, my warping spell isn't 'simple,'" she added with a frown.

"I will kill you either way, but the sooner you remove the curse the less painful the experience will be," Vaati continued stubbornly.

The girl rolled over on the couch with a curious expression on her face. "Oh? And how do you think you can kill me in your current state?"

"Ha, there are plenty of ways," Vaati whipped away his cape with a crooked smile. "Right now I'm thinking of letting you experience purified Gohma venom at its highest concentration." He sat on the armrest of the velvet couch and crossed his legs with all the poise of a king. His voice had returned to a calm smoothness that was nevertheless just as dangerous as before. "Treated with a few other components, it will turn into a nerve poison that will cause paralysis and extreme pain, but not death. Fascinating, isn't it? I can then kill you slowly in whatever way I please."

The girl stared at the wind mage. "You do know that by telling me all of this your chances of successfully killing me are going to decrease drastically, right?"

Vaati's grin widened. "That is just how assured I am of poisoning you."

Opal threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. "Have you no gratitude? Aren't you thankful you won't have to suffer the most humiliating way someone of your caliber could ever die?"

At this, the sorcerer only scoffed. He shook his head as though he pitied the girl's ignorance. "I can't die from a mere piece of rope. I am Vaati, the greatest sorcerer in the world."

 _Not anymore,_  Opal thought tiredly, but she let it slide.

Vaati paced around his palace once more, thinking about how to get the girl to give back his sorcery. He paused with his back turned, and then he whirled around with a warm, pleasant smile that was a change from his cold sneer from earlier. "I have an idea, if you would be inclined to listen," he began. When Opal eyed him warily, he continued charmingly, "I can teach you the most basic warping spell even a Redead can master. Why don't you get rid of my curse so I can teach you –"

"Vaati, you can't really believe I'm  _that_  stupid," Opal quickly interrupted him with a raised hand, "and get rid of that smile, it's insincere and creepy as hell."

"… You're not very cute."

Vaati went back to glowering at everything in his vicinity while Opal crossed her arms and curled up against the couch with a frown. The sorcerer's irritation was becoming infectious, and she could feel the beginnings of a headache itching across her skull. She rubbed her temples, and when the wind mage passed in front of her while muttering under his breath, she shook her head in annoyance. "Look just… go occupy yourself with something; find a new hobby, take a walk, anything! I'm tired so stop bothering me." She winced when the migraine got worse, and she blamed it on Vaati's nagging.

Vaati, meanwhile, wasn't really paying attention to Opal at this point. His ears pricked, and he slowly became alert to a subtle magical disturbance. It was apparent just on the edge of his awareness, and it brushed against his skin like a feather. He hadn't been sure he had caught it properly especially with his binding curse, but he figured that if he could sense it at all then it had to be powerful. Stopping in his tracks, Vaati searched his surroundings.

"You, are you doing something?" his red eyes cast suspicious glances at the girl who was now clutching her head.

"I do have a name, thanks," she shot. She flinched, her headache becoming worse. Attributing her pain to the wind mage, she bared her teeth and growled. "What are you still standing there for – do I have to beat you out of here?"

Vaati momentarily lost concentration on the tingling magical disturbance when he was startled by the girl's sudden hostility. She had her fingers curled like claws and a feral glint had appeared in her eyes. Perspiration had also begun to appear on her forehead and they glistened down her chin. She lashed out at his hesitation.

"Get out!" Opal hissed, and Vaati took a bewildered step away when she tried to stand up and approach as though to attack him. As soon as she put weight on her feet, however, her knees buckled and she fell to the floor with a shriek.

Vaati stood dumbstruck for a second before he suddenly rushed towards the writhing girl with a determined snarl. "If you're going to die, I demand that you give me my magic back before you do!" He instinctively gripped the screaming girl's shoulders. "Don't you dare die on me now," he said between his teeth. The only way he was going to accept her death was either if he had his curse removed or if he was the one who had killed her.

After several minutes of screaming continuously, Vaati began to panic. He stood paralyzed in fear with no idea what was going on, and he knew that if something happened to this girl he could kiss his magic goodbye. The horrifying truth loomed over him ominously, and he tried to suppress his growing fears under a situation that was completely out of his control. Just as he was considering knocking her unconscious, her screams stopped as suddenly as they had begun. Vaati stared at her in shock, and then cautiously relaxed his hands on her shoulders and slumped to the floor in front of her. Dazed, he didn't seem to care that his hat had drooped lopsided over his face again.

The wind mage leaned forward and began carefully. "Are you… are you okay?"

Opal had her head on her knees and she was breathing heavily. At the sound of his voice, her breathing paused and she slowly lifted her head. Demonic blue eyes met his red ones.

Vaati sat stock still. He coughed. "Can you get rid of my curse now? If this happens to you again…" he let his sentence falter under the girl's cold gaze. He found it unnerving to be stared at so intensely.

Taking a deep breath, he glanced around the palace and he brushed himself off of the floor. He took a moment to straighten out his hat, and then, mustering up courage, he began one more time. "I felt a magical disturbance before you started screaming," he stated with a little more confidence. Feeling her stare still following him, his mouth curled into an irritated frown and he looked down his nose in contempt. "I think someone…" Vaati froze, his confident arrogance leaving him when he took a better look at the Opal. Her ice blue eyes had narrowed to thin lines, and there was something about them that made him have doubts. Then, a revelation hit him.

_Oh Din._

"I think someone – _erk."_

"Possessed me? Perhaps."

Vaati choked when he felt a pointed, metal tip poke his throat. His eyes widened at the sight of a sword at his neck, and he backed into the wall. Vaati's gaze followed from the tip, to the hilt, to the slender fingers, to the eyes; but the eyes he remembered to be blue were blue no more. They were  _yellow_.

Vaati took a moment to collect himself. "All right," he whispered, "who are you?"

XXXXXXX

Opal was disoriented. She imagined she had her eyes squeezed shut because she couldn't see anything and she felt tension around her eyelids, but at the same time she thought she could make out a blurry image of someone's face. Who knew? Who cared? At the moment, all she could focus on was the feeling of her mind being pushed into darkness while foreign voices thrummed louder in her ears.

She'd heard about these symptoms, and she could take a guess as to what had happened when the voices merged into a single entity to give her a command.

 _Go on,_  it urged.  _Kill him_.

She tried to shake the voice out of her head, but her neck wouldn't budge. Instead, she stood frozen in place as her mind lost control of her own body.  _I'm being possessed, aren't I?_  the girl thought, and then she quickly became horrified when her body took a step forward against her will. Her vision became clearer and she saw the sorcerer glaring at her in contempt as she held him at sword point.

Immediately, her mind rebelled against the voice.  _No._ Her foot stopped moving and she stiffened.

 _He's no use to us,_  the voice egged.

_No._

_He is a weak mage; one defeated countless times by our enemy._

_No._

_And even worse, he is a mage no more. Destroy him._

_No._

_You will be sufficient for my new plan._  The voice paused for a second. Then,  _we will get rid of those who are useless._

_No._

_KILL HIM. That's an order._

Opal's hands shook as she fought against the voice.  _No, I have a vow to keep._

The voice sighed impatiently.  _Vows, promises, those things are worthless._

 _Says who?_  She winced in pain when her rebellious question instigated another migraine. Even so, she kept at it.  _Who the hell are you anyway?_

The voice chuckled at the question, keeping her waiting in strained anticipation. Its next words made her heart sink.  _I am your king._

That was it. It was all over. She felt her mind break at the revelation as she lost almost all of her will to fight against it. With her added fatigue from her earlier warping, she knew she stood no chance. The sword in her hand wavered, and she took another shaking step towards the wind mage at her mercy. The point of the sword poked his neck and a single trickle of blood ran down to his collar. Opal watched Vaati pressed against the wall with a look that clearly said "you will die a horrible death."

The girl's mind fogged and she tried her hardest not to make her body move. She stammered.  _N-no. I keep v-vows._

At the end of its patience, the voice roared in anger.  _You FOOL! I'll go there myself! Bring me to the Palace of Winds. NOW._

XXXXXXXX

Vaati didn't really know how long they both stood frozen to the spot like the palace gargoyles: he was trying his best to avoid provoking a sword stab, while Opal simply stared forward with a blank, lifeless expression. After what felt like an interminable amount of time, a glimmer reappeared in the girl's eyes and she backed away. Vaati's relief of the lowered sword was only momentary, however, with the words she uttered next.

"Yes, Lord Ganon."

Vaati blanched. He felt as though the sword had actually impaled him from the way his gut wrenched in shock.  _Ganon_. He had heard about the Gerudo from Opal earlier when she had recounted what had happened at the Palace of Winds during his fight with the Links. He had heard how he had been used by the King of Darkness to amass power, how he had nearly succeeded I killing his nemesis Link, and how he had been sealed by the Four Sword.

Vaati frowned.  _How had he escaped?_

This man – this self-proclaimed king – had succeeded in almost every aspect where he had failed. Even the great Sorcerer of Winds couldn't escape the confines of the Four Sword in such a short period of time, and he couldn't comprehend how the warlock would have been able to surpass him.

How? No one surpasses Vaati.

"It seems my new pet couldn't kill you, Vaati."

The sorcerer's head snapped around when he heard the voice behind him, and he saw a dark skinned man standing with an imposing presence. Vaati clenched his fists on guard.  _What? I thought they said he was a giant pig?_  He had never met the infamous King of Darkness in person, but he had heard stories that he was a great boar-like creature. Instead, Vaati was face to face with a man of the desert, heavily tanned and having the red hair of the Gerudo. Vaati figured that the warlock used magic similar to the one he used when he switched between his Hylian and demon forms.

Vaati cocked his head up towards the man who towered over him. "How did you escape the Four Sword." The response he got made him feel ruffled.

"That little toy?" Ganondorf laughed. "The Four Sword isn't enough to keep me from this world."

"Impossible," Vaati seethed. "It took me years to break the seal on that sword."

The dark king chuckled. "Then perhaps I'm in a different league than you."

"I am the greatest sorcerer in the world – I am God!" Vaati declared vehemently. He wished he could use magic now to put some validity to his words. If he could use his sorcery now, he could wipe that smug smile off of that man's face.

Ganondorf ignored Vaati's comment as irrelevant, making the sorcerer fume in anger. "Rejoice, Vaati. The Four Sword is no more. Never again will you be sealed by it."

Vaati's left eye twitched. Did that balding freak seriously expect him to be grateful? Did he think that, after taking his self-dignity and stepping over and spitting on it, that he should  _thank_  him? The nerve! Quietly shaking in fury, Vaati stood his ground even as Ganon approached him.

"It seems my pet here thinks you're worth saving, no matter how pathetic you are," Ganondorf chuckled and signaled Opal to come closer. With a blank, puppet-like expression, the girl slowly walked forward while still holding her sword. "I've decided to show you some mercy, Vaati. You deserve to celebrate the destruction of your prison. Opal, why don't you take this fool somewhere isolated so he can enjoy his time alone before I send him some friends?"

"Yes, Lord Ganon." Opal straightened up and readied a warp.

Ganondorf gazed coldly at the helpless yet extremely proud mage. "Aren't you going to thank me, Vaati?"

Vaati glared at the Gerudo for a few long seconds. Then, he smiled bitterly. "I hope you die painfully, Ganon," he said in a soft, venomous voice.

The last thing Vaati saw of the Palace of Winds was Ganondorf's malevolent grin.


	6. Vaati Hunting

"Stupid demon, stupid demon, stupid demon," Link muttered under his breath as he followed the Royal Guards. He had actually been looking forward to at least a month of non-action, but Opal had to go and ruin it by helping Vaati escape jail. They had first discovered something wrong when a loud banging noise came from behind the door of the girl's room, accompanied by an old male voice. It had taken at least fifteen minutes for the guards situated outside the door to obtain the captain's permission to take a look inside, and another ten minutes for the guards to mobilize down to the dungeons when they had discovered the jailer trapped in Opal's room instead.

It made Link even more upset when he thought about how they should have been prepared for something like this. He blamed it on the fatigue after his fight with Ganon, and the overwhelming relief everyone had felt when the big fight had concluded; they hadn't been thinking clearly when they had let those two go.

Opal had gone along with Vaati, and now they had a potentially dangerous duo running around somewhere in Hyrule. The only thing that would make things worse was if they found out that Ganon had escaped as well…

At least that shouldn't happen, right?

Link stared at the back of the soldier lined up in front of him. Bored, he observed his reflection in the metal plates of the guard's armor, and he felt a sense of relief that they hadn't made him wear armor as well. He had gotten so used to fighting in his green tunic that he loathed thinking about what it would be like to fight in such movement limiting armor.

Link also wasn't used to working in such a large group. He'd gotten a little better about it after he had been forced to fight together with his three other selves, but they were all still himself with similar ways of thinking and fighting. Link made faces at the reflection in the soldier's armor, feeling tedious about the whole operation.

There was a huge gathering of soldiers in the Castle Town Square, and no civilians were present, as they had all retreated to their homes out of fear of the escaped prisoners. The silver from the guards' armor glittered like fish scales as they stood in neat lines, waiting for orders from their captains. "All right men, we're going take a loop through Hyrule's southern fields. Watch out for the guays, and keep your eyes open for our escapees." The captain of Link's patrol group, Sir Gregory, waved a hand over to the boy standing all the way near the back of the line. "Link! I know you like to adventure on your own, but we're working as a  _team_  this time, understand?"

Link felt himself go red. Of course he didn't want to follow the Royal Guards when he could work twenty times faster alone. He paused a little too long, provoking the captain to snap at him.

" _Soldier!_  As much as you're the Hero of Hyrule you  _will_  answer me!"

Ugh, that man can really speak in italics. "Yes sir."

The captain turned, and proceeded to call out orders for the search team. The soldiers filed out of the castle in their respective groups to search different areas around Hyrule. One group stayed behind to search Castle Town itself, but most of them walked over the bridge and into Greater Hyrule. Link slowly eased his way to the back of the crowd, waiting for a chance to go search on his own.

XXXXXXXXX

Vaati felt miserable. He had no bearings of where he could be, and without his magic he couldn't do much. He couldn't remember the last time he had been devoid of his magical abilities – even as a Minish he could do some simple spells that he had learned under Ezlo. For Vaati, losing magic was just as bad as losing a limb.

The sorcerer sighed, and then trudged over the tree that he had been warped next to. Taking a better look at his surroundings, he thought he could recognize it as somewhere in southern Hyrule: it was mostly green hills with a few trees dotting the area here and there. Vaati thought he could hear the occasional caw of guays.

He had to figure out what to do soon. Ganondorf's promise to send him some "friends" rang in his ears, and he had a feeling that whoever they were, they weren't going to be very friendly. Vaati looked up at the sky through the branches of the tree. He couldn't go back to Hyrule because they would just greet him with a noose, and he doubted that he could walk idly into a village given his notorious reputation. For the first time in his life, Vaati began to regret wreaking havoc over the entire region: he was helpless and he had no one to turn to…

Scowling, Vaati angrily kicked up dirt. He  _wasn't_  helpless, he  _wasn't_  lost, and he  _wasn't_  weak. He'll show them. They'll regret ever making a fool of him. The thought of revenge cheered him up a little, and he imagined the idiots who had reduced him to this state begging for mercy. In the end, they'll all cower at his feet.

_Yes, but, how am I going to solve my current predicament?_

The hint of a smile that had appeared on Vaati's face earlier quickly vanished as he was reminded of the unpleasant thought. Vaati grumbled. He needed somewhere safe to spend the night and he was running out of options. He considered digging a hole somewhere, but he dismissed it since it hurt his pride too much. Any work that involved getting his hands filthy were out of question.  _I guess I can climb a tree._

Vaati vehemently shook his head. No way. Not climbing. Climbing would remind him of his inability to use magic and that was the worst feeling in the world. Still, he needed to do  _something_ soon because the sun was beginning to fall.

Pride or safety? He weighed his options. Before he had a chance to make up his mind, however, he saw a shimmering ripple move through the air in front of him. In a small fraction of a second, he had seen the horizon become momentarily distorted like waves moving through water. Vaati became alert and crouched down besides the crooked roots of the tree he had been leaning on. There was that tickling sense of magic that made his skin crawl, and his head snapped back and forth, scanning the surroundings.  _I don't like this_. There was another ripple, and the landscape temporarily appeared to wave like a flag.

A few seconds later, the phenomena stopped, and Vaati gradually allowed himself to relax his shoulders when it seemed like nothing was going to happen. He hated how he felt so jumpy and exposed without his magic, and he thought about how similar he must be to frightened vermin. "Stupid," he muttered under his breath. Brushing himself off, he took a few steps away from the tree and glared at it in contempt.

"Fine. I guess I'll climb," he declared aloud, reinforcing his decision in his mind. After that incident with the rippling air, he decided he would feel somewhat safer on higher ground.

Without warning, Vaati heard a low rumbling growl from somewhere behind him and he instantly regretted turning around to face the tree. A loud panting approached, and the sorcerer felt the air turn uncomfortably hot near his neck.

If this didn't scare him, the smell of rotting flesh sure caused goose bumps to rise on his arms.

XXXXXXXX

Link glanced over his shoulder to make sure that no one had followed him. He had finally been able to split apart from the Royal Guards, and he had no intention of joining their search group again. It was silly how they had to search as a large mass of shiny, glittery, and extremely conspicuous group. The clanking armor would only act as a siren for the fugitives, and Link thought it would have been better if the guards hadn't worn their armor at all. He knew why the guards were wearing armor, however, and he couldn't blame them: they were still afraid of Vaati. Even though Link and Princess Zelda had explained that Vaati was probably harmless since he had no magic, his name still managed to instill fear in Hylians.

Link hopped over to a boulder jutting out from a hill and he climbed on top of it to get a better view of the fields. Craning his neck, he thought about where he should go next. "If I was a demon or an ex-mage, where would I go?" Link shielded his face from the late-afternoon sun's glare. The fields were huge, and he didn't know where to begin looking for the escapees. They could be anywhere in Hyrule right now, and for all he knew they might have even left the borders and into Holodrum.

A strange movement caught his eye due north of him, and he heard someone yell. Link tilted his head. "Well that's a start," he mused. He jumped off the boulder and unsheathed his sword, making his way over to the commotion beneath a tree. As he cautiously approached, he saw two monsters he had never seen before stalking something that was just out of his view. They had the appearance of green, bipedal lizards donning thin leather armor with an axe attached to their tails. Almost six feet in height, their large jaws revealed thick pointed teeth. Their fangs weren't their only weapons, however, as they carried sabers in their claws. One of them was wearing a skeletal mask.

The two lizards took a step towards the tree where their prey had been cornered. As soon as they moved, Link heard a familiar voice lash out viciously, making the monsters hesitate. They hissed in retaliation.

"Get back! I'm the great Sorcerer Vaati ! I'll spare you if you would just  _get back goddesses damn you!_ "

"Hissssssss."

An almost comical scene was being played out before Link. As he approached to get a better look, he saw the purple wind mage looking awfully ruffled with a stone in his right hand and a stick in his other, his trailing hat jammed lopsided on his head. Vaati had his shoulders hunched like an injured animal, his expression contorted into savage rage. He had lost all of his calm, stoic confidence he used to have when he had been powerful.

The lizards simply watched the sorcerer in curiosity, analyzing what kind of prey he was. They had cornered the wind mage against a tree, and they were trying to inch closer while avoiding the frantic swipes of the makeshift "sword." Finally annoyed by the stick that waved in front of its face, one of the lizard monsters struck its head forward like a snake and suddenly bit the stick. Vaati's weapon snapped with a loud crunch, and the sorcerer visibly jumped.

"Do you think I'm bluffing? This is your last chance before I blast you with my power!" Vaati valiantly tried to hide his fear.

Link was impressed with the mage's efforts to keep his bravado. Still, he could tell that the lizard monsters weren't going to be frightened away by attitude alone. Link circled around behind the monsters with his sword in his hand.

The lizard with the skeleton mask growled and pushed its partner aside. Now that Vaati had lost his weapon, the monster had decided to go in for the kill. Gritting his teeth, Vaati made one last stand. "Leave me be!" He threw his stone at the masked lizard, aiming between the eyes. The rock bounced off of the skull mask with a hollow clatter, and the monster shook its head in irritation. The sorcerer held his breath, waiting for the powerful jaws to snap him like the stick earlier.

To the surprise of the monster's partner and Vaati, the masked lizard turned its head to the sky and gurgled, foaming at the corners of its mouth. Blood trickled down through the cracks in the skull mask and the monster fell to the ground with a thud. Vaati stared silently at the dead beast.  _Did it get a concussion when I hit it with the rock?_  It seemed unlikely, yet the monster was dead. A small smile appeared on the sorcerer's face. "Heh." His gaze steadied towards the remaining lizard with renewed confidence. "The same is going to happen to you if you don't leave now."

The lizard didn't have time to decide, for it quickly joined its partner in death. Vaati frowned with a puzzled face when the monster inexplicably swayed, and then toppled down even though he hadn't done anything. His frown deepened when he saw a familiar green-garbed boy standing where the lizard had been.

"Sorry to break it to you, but you weren't the one who killed the first one," Link said, as he stepped over the dead monsters.

" _You_." Vaati's voice was venomous. He wasn't sure if he liked this new scenario better.

Link kept the sorcerer in check at sword point. "I'm here to take you back to Hyrule so they can hang you at the right date," he eyed him up and down. The sorcerer was disheveled with dirt smudged across his arms and legs, and his hair fell in front of his face wildly. "You look a right mess, by the way."

Vaati growled and hurriedly straightened himself out to look more like his usual, presentable self. "What makes you think I'm going to follow you to Hyrule?" he spat. Cracking his knuckles, Vaati did his best to stare down his opponent. Unfortunately for him, Link was the same height – even slightly taller – than him so he had to angle his gaze up instead.

Link blinked at the defiant sorcerer. Then, he calmly walked over to Vaati and firmly grabbed his arm. "Well, for one thing, you're pretty weak without your magic." The sorcerer reacted violently to having his arm grabbed by his nemesis, but he was quickly overpowered. Link patiently shushed Vaati's angry protests. "For another thing, it's either death at the gallows or being gored and bled to death by the local monsters. You'd probably prefer the gallows because it's much less painful and much, much quicker." He half wondered why he couldn't kill Vaati now and pretend he'd found him dead, but he also knew that the guard captain wouldn't be happy with him if he did that. After all, hangings were important in Hyrule since they set an example, and it would show that even a sorcerer like Vaati wasn't anything to be feared.

To be honest, neither Link nor Zelda really liked the castle's hanging ritual for high profile criminals. It was an old tradition, and Zelda had even talked about getting rid of such a morbid public demonstration. Link glanced at Vaati.  _Hmm, well maybe they can change it after they take care of Vaati,_ he thought as it occurred to him that he didn't mind if the evil sorcerer was hanged in public. The people of Hyrule were actually looking forward to the event to see the infamous sorcerer, who had caused so much suffering, to be punished before them.

Vaati continued to struggle, clawing at Link's arm that held him tightly. "I'd rather have keese gradually pick away my flesh than have to face the shame of being defeated by rope!" The sorcerer pulled against Link for a while, and then suddenly rushed forward to throw the hero off balance. The two fell forward onto the ground and Link momentarily lost his hold on the sorcerer. Seeing it as a chance to escape, Vaati jumped to his feet and made a run for it. It shamed him to have to run away, but Vaati was smart enough to know that in his current state he couldn't defeat Link.

Within a few steps, Vaati felt a sudden jerk and fell onto his face. Link had stuck out his foot and stomped down on the sorcerer's trailing cape, stopping the wind mage abruptly. "Vaati!" Link exasperatedly threw his arms into the air, "Would you just be a good little mage for once and follow me quietly back to Hyrule?"

Vaati groaned. He glared at his cape that had become a hindrance. Unwilling to get rid of it, however, he chose to pull on it to take it back. It was his and no one else's. "Never!"

The two did a little tug-of-war for a few seconds before Link gave one good yank on Vaati's cape and made the wind mage lose his balance. They finally began to make some progress towards Hyrule, but it was still a slow and tedious trek. It helped that Link was stronger, but Vaati didn't make it any easier as the sorcerer struggled in the other direction. This could take the whole night, and maybe even until tomorrow afternoon before they reached the castle gates.

Some time passed as the two gradually made their way towards Hyrule Castle. Link turned back once or twice to see the dirt tracks that showed their progress from Vaati's feet dragging on the ground. "Hey Vaati?" Link grunted as he gave another pull on Vaati's cape, "I was wondering, do you know what those monsters were that attacked you? I've never seen them before."

Link only got various growls and huffs from the sorcerer still struggling to get away. After some time of waiting patiently, Link tried again. "… Well?"

For the first time, Vaati's angry determined face relaxed and became a soft, pondering one. "… I don't know." His expression reverted back when Link gave another yank, making him take yet another step towards the castle. The hero continued to ignore Vaati's redoubled efforts.

"And what happened to Opal? We all assumed she would be with you if she freed you."

At the sound of the girl's name, Vaati seemed to perk up with irritation. "She's possessed by Ganondorf," he replied coolly.

"She's possessed by  _who?"_

Vaati was sent flying back when Link involuntarily released his hold on the sorcerer. The wind mage unleashed a string of indistinguishable curses, and then glowered as he fixed the hat on his head. Link cocked his head, his expression one of someone trying to console a child who had seen a nightmare.

"Vaati, that's impossible. He was perfectly sealed in the Four Sword."

Vaati gritted his teeth and ran a finger along his collar where his cape had been pulling him. "You fool. You did  _not_  perfectly seal him in the Four Sword seeing how easily he managed to escape. I guess you weren't as thorough when you trapped him than when you trapped me?"

"But…"

"He cannot have escaped the Four Sword in a matter of days when it took me years to escape it," Vaati's eyes narrowed accusingly, "unless you messed up somehow."

"But I sealed –"

"I broke the seal once! Anything that has been broken once can never regain its original potency!" Vaati walked over to Link and jabbed him sharply in the chest with his finger. "You. Did. Not. Seal him properly."

"But I did!" Link cried.

Without warning, Vaati reached out and grabbed the other boy by the collar. "That Gerudo is  _not_  more powerful than me. Period. End of discussion," Vaati hissed. Link decided it wouldn't hurt to keep the mage happy with his illusions.

It took both of them some time to see that their positions had switched. Their eyes simultaneously glanced between Vaati's chokehold and Link's feet that were dangling off the ground.

"Crud!" Link kicked the air frantically. He was stronger than Vaati, but he couldn't do anything when the sorcerer had an advantageous hold on him. Vaati's surprised face was replaced by a nasty grin that broadened the more Link struggled.

"Well well well. You sure did underestimate me, brat." Vaati faltered for a second when Link almost managed to escape his grasp, but he quickly regained footing. There was no freaking way he was going to let his enemy escape; his life literally depended on it. "I wonder how I should kill you." His eyes fell on the sword hanging on Link's back, and then he sneered. "Hmm, maybe I'll give you a taste on what it feels like to be defeated by your sword."

Vaati reached over to grab the sword, but Link was quicker. As soon as Vaati brought him closer so he could reach the sword, Link kicked the sorcerer in the ribs. The two rolled in the ground when Vaati fell backwards and pulled Link down with him, and they wrestled in a competition to reach Link's weapons first. The struggle ended when the blond boy grabbed the rim of Vaati's hat and jammed it over his face to obscure his vision. When it came down to it, the sorcerer wasn't very good at traditional fighting.

"You little pest!" Vaati shoved his hat back up so he could see, and he paused when he noticed Link had jumped away from him cautiously instead of subduing him. The other boy had a funny look on his face and his eyes wandered around his surroundings. "Huh?"

It was then that Vaati saw it again: the fierce ripple that struck through the horizon, momentarily altering the landscape. No doubt Link had moved away from him because he had thought that he was using magic, but Vaati had nothing to do with this. The sorcerer slowly got onto his feet.

"… Link, as much as I hate you and would like to see you hurt, watch out for enemies. Last time that occurred those weird lizards appeared." Vaati picked up a stone from the ground, alert for any signs of enemies. Now wasn't the time to fight Link – he couldn't handle monsters alone.

"Then... that's not you using magic?"

"Pffft, no. If I could use magic you would be completely at my mercy, boy." Vaati waited expectantly for the monsters to appear. It took him a while to notice that Link was gaping at him in surprise.

"Vaati, you just grew a few feet taller…" Link barely managed.

"What in blazes are you talking about?" Vaati, who had his back towards Link, whirled around. He was struck speechless at the sight of Link. "You, I didn't know you used magic."

They both stood there for some time, and then slowly looked down at themselves. What they saw made both of them stare blankly in shock.

The two of them had changed in appearance, but it was hard to explain exactly  _what_  had changed. Both of them had grown a few feet taller, and appeared slightly more mature than they had been. Link still wore his green tunic, brown boots, and green hat, but the green wasn't quite the same and the stitches appeared more prevalent. Tugging at his collar, Link noticed that he was wearing chain mail beneath his tunic as well – he had never worn chain mail in his life since he never liked the extra weight.

Vaati's attire was still mostly purple, but it appeared faded and coarse compared to his old clothes. The embroidery on the edge of his cape was fancier with gold thread, and when the wind mage brought his hand up to his ears, he noticed they were pierced. Vaati frowned – since when did he have his ears pierced? The red jewel on his hat seemed to gleam a more ominous red, too. Vaati shook his head. "I wouldn't be entirely surprised if Ganondorf was behind this, whatever  _this_  is."

Link brought a hand to his chin, thinking. Finally, he looked up at the mage. "Vaati, I have a feeling something bad happened at Hyrule. "Can you cooperate with me so we can get back as soon as possible and figure out what's going on?"

Scowling, Vaati crossed his arms over his chest. "I still don't know why I should cooperate."

Link scratched his head. "You're right. You won't."

"W-wait. What are y-  _ugh!_ " Vaati slumped to the ground when Link moved closer and gave him a good whack behind his head. After making sure he was out cold, Link hoisted him over his shoulder and began walking towards the castle.

"I should've done this earlier."


	7. Clowns and Amnesiacs

When Link arrived at the gates of Hyrule, he had expected some form of appreciative welcome from the citizens. He had, after all, managed to single-handedly recapture Vaati. Instead, all he received was a curt nod from the guards posted by the southern entrance and a few curious glances from the townspeople as he made his way towards the central plaza. Not a single person threw a remotely worried glance at the unconscious villain he carried on his shoulders.

It was weird. The guards around Hyrule were strolling through the streets in their regular routines, and it seemed that most of them had returned from their search parties. Actually, their whole demeanor was lazy and almost jaded. Even the townspeople who had been hiding in their homes during the search were going about their daily routine as though nothing had happened. Everything was too peaceful.

What disturbed Link even more was that he couldn't recognize anybody in the streets; not even the soldiers who were approaching him now, adorned with the insignia of the Royal Guard.

"Why, hello Link! Are you enjoying your day off today?" one of the soldiers asked.

Link was caught off guard.  _Day off? That's what I was GOING to enjoy until we were sent out to search for Vaati and Opal_. Sensing something was horribly wrong Link proceeded carefully. "Erm, we don't have a day off today because we have a search to do."

Now the soldiers looked surprised. "Search? For what?" The soldier who spoke scratched his head. "Did the princess recently issue the order? We haven't heard of this."

"What? But… ah, never mind," Link frowned. He could sense that something was different about this Hyrule, but he didn't want to get into a complicated situation with these soldiers before he could figure out exactly what was going on. He needed to find someone he recognized. "Do you know where I can find Sir Gregory, by the way?"

"Sir Gregory?" The soldier rubbed his chin, "I know several Gregories, but none with the title of Sir." Several of his men nodded in agreement, and Link's feeling of foreboding increased. Sir Gregory was one of the most conspicuous men in the Royal Guard: he wasn't easily missed. Not noticing Link's expression of confused dread, the soldier continued, laughing heartily. "But to not have a day off, Link! You shouldn't work yourself too hard; you deserve a vacation after the rough adventure you went through, and boy, what a story that was."

Link began to feel worse. It sounded like these soldiers hadn't heard about Vaati's escape, and he couldn't think about how that would even be possible.

The soldier sighed. "Nothing goes on around here anymore. We're practically unemployed! But you can't have a proper castle without the Royal Guards."

"No, I guess not… OW!"

"Arrgh  _fool_ , let go of me,  _don't touch me!_ " Finally regaining consciousness, Vaati kicked himself off of Link and landed on the ground with a loud whack.

"Ah, so your friend has woken up. Is he all right? What happened?" The soldier asked, watching with interest as the mage brushed himself off and unleashed a string of curses in a language that wasn't Hylian. As Vaati was in the middle of fixing his collar, the sorcerer froze abruptly when the soldier's question registered in his head. Vaati stared at the guard blankly, and Link had the same reaction.

"You don't know who he is?" The words barely made it coherently out of Link's lips.

The soldier turned to the gaping Vaati apologetically. "I'm sorry, are you a celebrity? Forgive me, but I'm not too familiar with the popular culture. My children make fun of me for it all the time." The soldier shook his head sadly.

"But he's… he's Vaati, the Sorcerer of Winds! He tried to take over Hyrule and he, and he…" Link stuttered, and then fell quiet when all the soldiers began to laugh. Though Vaati was just as confused as Link, he laughed along with them; this was great.

The soldier chuckled. "Link, do you mean the Vaati from the old Hyrule legends? It's questionable he even existed." The laughter from the soldiers gradually died down and then a look of concern appeared on the lead soldier's face. "I know you had a rough time when you went out alone to defeat Ganon, goddesses know what you saw."

At this point, Vaati frowned a little from not having his name mentioned. He felt he deserved some credit for terrorizing Hyrule, yet the guard only recognized Ganon. He kept quiet, however, while the guard continued.

"I suggest you take it easy and rest. These nightmares will leave you soon enough." The soldier turned to Vaati who still appeared disgruntled about not being mentioned or remembered. "Did something happen to him Mr… ?"

The sorcerer looked up at the guard and considered him for a while. Then, he decided to test if he really was forgotten. "Coincidentally, my name  _is_  Vaati." He straightened himself out and gave Link a look of pity. "I believe poor Link here made the wrong connections when I introduced myself. I was surprised when he attacked me, claiming I needed to be sealed away."

The soldier looked sharply at Link. "Is this true?"

"Bwha-" Link stood in shock at the accusations.

Vaati waved him away haughtily, now sure that he was unrecognizable to the guards. "The stress of responsibility may have finally got to him, I'm afraid." He tried his best to look serious even though his lips tried to curl upwards in an amused grin, and he continued as solemnly as possible. "I also believe he may be suffering from a type of amnesia. I observed him zapped quite severely by an electric Chu; an unfortunate accident."

Link gave Vaati a cold glare, but said nothing.

The soldier walked over and placed a hand on Link's shoulder. "Link, this is serious."

"I… but…"

"It's actually good fortune he brought me to you after he knocked me out," Vaati said cheerfully. "Please take good care of him, soldiers."

At this, Link finally recovered from his initial shock and managed to speak coherently. "No! Wait! I'm completely fine!"

Vaati shrugged. "That's what they always say."

The soldiers surrounded Link, and they began to direct him towards the town doctor. "Let's get you checked up to make sure everything is fine. It sounds like you're going through trauma."

" _I said I'm fine!_ " Link shouted, fighting against the soldiers who firmly led him away. Between the guards' arms, Link glared at Vaati's smug face. "We can't let him get away!"

The sorcerer waved him off with more enthusiasm than necessary, and then turned his back to walk casually towards the commercial area of Castle Town. "I pray he recovers from his condition."

The soldiers nodded in agreement, and then proceeded to pull Link towards the castle doctor. Before they walked completely out of sight, the soldier who had been speaking to the two boys called back after the sorcerer when he remembered something. "Say, I do believe I recognize you sir."

Link stopped struggling and Vaati paused in his tracks.  _Had they finally realized the truth?_  With a warning edge in his voice, the sorcerer slowly turned his head over his shoulder towards the guard. "Do you now…"

"The markings under your eyes and your, excuse me, flamboyant attire… are you possibly employed under 'Fyer and Falbi's Watertop Land of Fantastication' at Lake Hylia?"

Vaati began to frown, but for a completely different reason than from his fear of having his cover blown. Oblivious, the soldier made an effort to explain.

"You know, the two clowns that work at the amusement park by the lake. I hear they're popular with the kids during the summer, and my son absolutely loves it. Do you work there?"

"… He had better shut up now," Vaati seethed under his breath, his good humor leaving him. More audibly, the sorcerer huffed, making an effort to keep his temper in check. "I do not enjoy entertaining children," he spoke as though he were speaking of insects. Without another word, he stormed off towards the busier avenues of Castle Town, leaving Link under the hands of the Royal Guards.

XXXXXXXX

Vaati angrily shouldered his way past the evening crowd, still upset for being mistaken for a pair of clowns who worked at an amusement park. It was one thing to want to be recognized as someone famous, and quite another thing to be mistaken for someone famous in a disgraceful occupation. "Land of Fantastication indeed," he muttered, clenching his fists. How dare they disrespect such a powerful, significant person like him? "Despicable."

He tried to push through the crowd, not really sure where he was going except away from the central plaza. It still boggled his mind that no one recognized him, and he cast irritated glares from time to time when people shoved him out of their way. In this crowd, no one respected him because to them, he was the same as anyone else.

The only viable explanation that he could come up with was that the Hyrule he and Link were now in was not the same Hyrule they had come from. It was outrageous and he couldn't even begin to think about how that would be possible, but the truth was that no one recognized who he was. Further more, the claim made by the soldier that "Vaati was an old Hylian legend" pointed him to an idea on where they really were, but he wasn't going to jump to conclusions without making sure first. Vaati craned his neck to see above the crowd: he was happy that for once, he was almost about as tall as the average person instead of pitifully short.

"Looking for someone, young man?"

A storekeeper who was in the middle of packing away the produce in his produce stand asked Vaati amiably. Vaati was about to say he wasn't, but then thought better of it when he realized he could use some directions. "Actually I'm looking for the library."

"Ah, you're not from around here are you?" the shopkeeper heaved the crate of pumpkins onto a wooden cart. "The library isn't far from here," the man nodded. "By the way, if you're a traveler you should try some of Hyrule Castle's famous Red Royal Apples. They're only grown here."

"No thank you," Vaati said flatly. "Where's the library?"

"Here, they're usually ten rupees, but I'll sell them to you for five since it's… your… first time here…" The storekeeper's voice faltered when Vaati, at the end of what little patience he had, leaned over the counter menacingly.

"Where," Vaati whispered, his voice like a whip, "is the library?" When the man hesitated, Vaati snatched the slicing knife that was on the counter and slammed it through an apple that was propped on the market table. "I would appreciate your help," Vaati coerced in a pleasant voice, though his sharp red eyes said otherwise.

"Uh… down that road. You'll see it on your left," the man shrunk behind the store counter and pointed his finger towards the direction of the library. Never in his life had he been looked at so threateningly, and the aura that pervaded around the traveler was absolutely toxic. Without another word, the wind mage turned on his heel and marched off towards the direction of the library.

The storekeeper sighed in relief when Vaati was out of sight. "I think I just talked to the devil."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Dr. Borville, we would like you to make sure Link is all right."

"I said let go of me! I'm perfectly fine!"

Link slammed his hands against the doorway, refusing to take another step inside the doctor's office. A short, impish doctor with his gray hair parted into two points like his ears looked up from behind his messy desk. Wrinkled and crooked, there was a sort of irony in that he looked unhealthier than most patients. A set of thick-lens glasses made his eyes appear to bulge out past his face. "He looks pretty fine to me if he has that much energy," Dr. Borville sniffed.

The soldiers pushed Link through the door. "We believe he's mentally unstable, doctor."

"I said I'm –"

The doctor's head snapped up at the soldiers' explanation, and spittle flew past his desk when he yelled at them. "Get out! I don't have time to waste on you!"

Link and the soldiers fell silent when the doctor stood up and shooed them back outside. Though Link was relieved that he wasn't going to have to be examined by the doctor, he was slightly worried that Hyrule would have such an unwelcoming doctor. The soldiers exchanged anxious glances. "But…"

The short yet fierce doctor interrupted them in a wheezy voice. "Mental instability? What do you think I am, a psychologist? I'm a doctor! That is beyond my expertise!"

"Then who should we –"

Link protested. "I don't need help!"  _I hate you Vaati!_

A greedy light appeared in the doctor's eyes as he considered the Royal crest on the soldiers' armor. He then pointed to Link who was trying to make his way past the guards and away to look for Vaati. "Hmm, I'll consider taking a look at the boy if I'm sufficiently paid for my services."

The soldiers hesitated at the mention of payment, and Link took this time to shove them away. Finally breaking free, he made a run for it. Behind him, he heard a few gasps of surprise, and then a faint murmur as the soldiers figured that they didn't really want to pay. Breathing a sigh of relief, Link slowed down when he was sure they wouldn't follow him anymore.

The sky was a deep orange now from the late evening sun. Night was about to fall in a few hours, and it reminded him just how much time he had wasted. Vaati could be anywhere at this rate, and he hoped the sorcerer hadn't left Castle Town. Link picked up his pace again, determined to find the wind mage. He made his way straight towards the castle market street since that was where he had last seen him. The streets were almost completely empty now, except for a few vendors who were taking their time to put their merchandise away for the day.

"Excuse me," Link stopped a vendor who was pulling a wooden wagon full of produce behind him. The man appeared worn after a long day of work. "I'm looking for someone; he's wearing a purple cape and has really long, light purple hair. Have you seen him?"

There was a crash as the man let go of his wagon, making it drop to the cobblestones abruptly. He backed into the wood, making a few apples roll onto the ground. "You're with him?" the man asked in fright.

"You've seen him? Where? Where did he go?" Link reached out urgently, making the man flinch away.  _Vaati, what did you do to him?_  He took a few steps away from the nervous man so he wouldn't scare him, and tried again. "Please, I need to find him before he hurts someone."

At this, the man calmed down. "You're not with him?" When Link shook his head 'no,' the man instantly became helpful. He pointed down the road where he had given Vaati directions earlier. "He said he wanted to know where the library was. Please, find him quickly! He was about to kill me – I could see it in his face!" He begged earnestly for Link to hurry - the boy didn't need to be told twice.

"Thank you," Link began running towards the way the vendor had pointed. He hurried past the few people left on the streets and his boots clicked rhythmically on the stone. He hoped Vaati was still there, and he tried not to think about what he would do once he caught him. Should he fight him? Should he bring him to Zelda and let her think about what they should do? What if she didn't recognize him like everyone else?

Another horrible thought crossed Link's mind: what if Zelda didn't exist? So far he hadn't seen anyone who he recognized, and no one seemed to know anyone he knew. The blond shook his head vehemently.  _I don't want to think about it._

Link paused when he reached the library doors. Taking a deep breath and making sure he still had his sword with him, he slowly pushed the door open.

Stacks of books greeted him beyond the receptionist's desk. A stereotypical librarian with her dark hair pulled up in a tight bun glanced briefly at him over her glasses. The library appeared bigger than he remembered, but that could have been his memory failing him: he rarely visited the library anyways. At the same time, there was something different about the library – actually all of Castle Town now that he thought about it. Everything seemed older and more worn. He thought the town had looked newer than it did now.

Link walked up to the librarian who was busy reading a book at her desk. He scanned the isles for the missing sorcerer. "Have you seen an extremely pale person with a hat like mine except it's purple?" Link asked. Wordlessly, the librarian brought up her hand to point at the person who had walked out from the isle labeled 'Section H14." It was Vaati, and he had his nose buried in a book.

"Found you!" Link exclaimed. At the sound of his voice, Vaati looked up abruptly and slammed his book shut.

"You again!" he spat. Then, remembering his civility he mentioned much more smoothly, "Did they acquit you from the asylum already?" He ignored the librarian telling them to be quiet, and thumbed through the book he had in his hand so that the pages made a soft, ruffling noise.

Link stomped over to Vaati. He was angry at what the sorcerer made him go through earlier, and he was also angry at all the trouble he was causing. Link drew his sword, paying little attention to the gasps from the people in the library. He lined it up with Vaati's neck. "You're coming with me."

The sorcerer shrugged casually, and opened the book he had in his hand. "And where are we going?" At Link's uncertain pause, Vaati looked up and smiled. "Do you even know? What are you going to do with someone who's not a criminal? I can probably have you arrested for assault instead," the sorcerer laughed, highly amused by the situation.

"This isn't funny!" Link snapped while Vaati continued laughing. He grabbed hold of Vaati's arm in an attempt to lead him outside, but then he flinched when the librarian yelled at him for being loud. Taking the opportunity, Vaati slapped Link's hand away from him.

"Of course it is," the sorcerer chuckled. Then, he pushed the point of Link's sword aside and walked over to one of the tables to pick up a pile of pamphlets. He passed it over to Link with a smile, making the other boy wonder why the evil wind mage was acting so gracious towards him. A wicked glint appeared in Vaati's eyes. "Is something the matter?"

Link evaluated the sorcerer for some time. There had to be a reason why the sorcerer had regained his assurance. Wordlessly, Link snatched the pamphlet that was offered to him. What he read made his forehead wrinkle. "… It's an ad for the annual book fair. What about it?"

"Doesn't that sound interesting? When is it going to be held?"

"What are you playing at?"

Vaati only grinned. "When is it?" Then, his face darkened though his creepy grin still remained. "Read it."

Link took another look at the pamphlet that was in his hands. He skimmed past the bold heading of "Free Books!" and "Bring the Family!" until his eyes landed on the date. He stared at it blankly for a few minutes, not quite registering what the numbers told him. As the information slowly rested in his head, Link began to turn pale.

Vaati's grin only grew wider.


	8. Reality Check

Vaati watched in silent amusement as Link's shaking hand rustled the pamphlet he held. The shocked hero turned to him for consolation, momentarily forgetting that Vaati was his enemy. "What happened?" the boy choked in disbelief, "We're not really in the future, are we?" Link looked like someone who was trying to laugh at a bad joke.

The sorcerer ignored him and thumbed through the book he had brought with him: the title was Monster Hunter's Field Guide: Hyrule's Dungeons. The smile was still curled mockingly on his face as he enjoyed every minute of Link's panic. The fact that they were now hundreds of years in the future didn't really bother the sorcerer. He didn't really understand how finding one in the future would be troublesome; it happened to him whenever he managed to escape the Four Sword, and really, Hyrule never changed much however many years had progressed.

Annoyed by how lightly Vaati was taking the situation and how the wind mage was obviously enjoying him freaking out about the time travel, Link demanded firmly. "You know something, don't you? What happened?"

Vaati chuckled darkly, setting his book aside. "I'm not sure, but I do have a theory."

Link waited expectantly for Vaati to explain, but was surprised when the sorcerer turned his heel and began to walk out of the library. Vaati's laughter rang over his shoulder, and even the librarian couldn't muster the nerve to tell him to be quiet from how sinister it was.

"Hahaha! That pure idiotic look of yours as though you thought I was going to help you – ridiculous! Your naïveté never ceases to amaze me."

"Wha-" Link stood frozen for a few seconds at Vaati's comment, and then he stomped after him. "Wait!"

The wind mage's cape whipped behind him, slapping Link in the face when the boy got too close. "Hmph! I have no reason to babysit you." Vaati stepped outside into the cool night. Nearly everyone had retired to his or her homes, and the only people on the streets were two guards who were patrolling for the night. They were chatting away amicably to each other, not so much patrolling as leisurely strolling. Vaati liked the expressions of these guards more than the ones from his time: their carefree smiles revealed that they had little experience in actual soldier work, and he judged them to be the type to follow orders without questioning them too much.  _Weak minded fools. Perfect._

When Link caught up to Vaati, he forcefully stopped him by catching hold of his arm. "You're not going anywhere," Link growled. He wasn't about to let Vaati do as he pleased.

Ignoring Link, Vaati yanked his arm away from him and continued to walk away. A slight sneer was evident on his face as though he were planning something. This time, Link drew his sword – he was going to use force if he had to.

"Vaati, I order you to sto-"

"Guards!" Vaati barked, causing Link to stop short in his tracks. With full authority in his voice, the sorcerer addressed the night watch while pointing his finger at Link. "Seize him!"

The guards stumbled over themselves from the sudden command, but then automatically rushed over to Link to hold him down. Vaati grinned – just as he had expected, these fools liked to follow orders. His expression hardened when the guards, slightly confused why they had been ordered to restrain Link, began to loosen their grip on him. "Do not let him go." The sorcerer gave the guards no time to think about questioning him by overwhelming them with a string of orders. "He has threatened to stab me with his sword. Take him to the castle and have him locked up." His eyes narrowed when the guards hesitated. " _Now_."

"Goddesses damn it don't listen to him!" Link shouted when the guards blindingly obeyed. They took the sword away from him and proceeded to drag him towards the castle. Vaati enjoyed the scene for a few more minutes before quickly retreating out of sight, listening to Link's screams of protest gradually fade away.

"Ha. The fool."

XXXXXXXXX

Vaati walked around town until he reached a stone patio just on the edge of the town. It overlooked a cliff, and several stone blocks were scattered on the grass like benches. The place reminded him of his palace a little, and he wandered over to the stone, sighing as he sat down. Vaati hugged his knee, thinking about what to do next.

His first priority was in reclaiming his sorcery. Without it he was nothing, and just as good as any one of those pathetic creatures hobbling around in Castle Town. He needed to reach Opal so she could remove the curse, but that required defeating Ganondorf so she would no longer be possessed. He was confident he could destroy the King of Darkness if he had his full potential, but it was no use ignoring the reality of the situation.

Without magic he couldn't go up against Ganondorf, but to get his magic back he had to go up against Ganondorf.

Vaati grumbled and sighed, clutching the rim of his hat in frustration. The only other option he could think of was to find another magic user to remove the curse off of him.  _Ugh,_  he thought unhappily,  _I guess I'm going to have to swallow my pride and ask for help…_

The thought made him cringe, and he shook his head, trying to make the unpleasant idea go away. Mercifully enough, a slow thudding sound booming through the air made him suddenly stop thinking about finding a wizard to help him. Gusts of air blew by his ears with every low thud, and he cautiously squinted at the navy night sky ahead of him. "What the…" he noticed a large shadow approaching quickly in the sky towards the patio. Vaati jolted up from where he was sitting and dashed towards the corner where he could find cover behind a stone block and some bushes. He had a bad feeling about the shadow. "Tch!"

Vaati watched as the shadow came closer, and in the dark cover of night he could see an outline of an enormous winged monster about twenty feet in height. Claws clicked onto the stone as it landed, and it spread its bat-like wings once before it folded them in its side. The sound of metal plates grating against each other could be heard when its long neck swung down towards the ground to allow two figures to hop off its back.

It was an armored dragon.

"I sssssstill don't underssssstand why you insisssssst on bringing that cowardly traitor with you. I would have rather left her at the Palacccce of Windssss." There was a rumbling hissing voice as the dragon snapped its head towards one of the figures, its forked tongue hanging between its teeth. "They ssssay the Render refusssssed to fight for our World of Darknesssss out of cowardiccce – the Render wasssss afraid of the Sssssword." The dragon clicked its claws on the stone. "The Render isssss not loyal. It isssss a disssssgrace to have to carry that traitor on my back."

The other silhouette shifted, and when Vaati heard its voice he almost blew his cover in shock. "My pet has some uses, and do not worry Argorok. This one is loyal – I made sure to it."

 _Ganondorf!_  Vaati's mind raced,  _then the other one must be Opal!_ He hadn't expected the Gerudo to make his move so soon. Pressing his back against the stone block he was hiding behind, he prayed they wouldn't see him. At the same time, he strained his ears to hear more of the conversation.

Argorok growled, and brought its head closer to the possessed girl. Then, there was a series of wheezing noises as the dragon shook and smoke puffed out of its maw. It appeared to be chuckling. "Ah, I sssssee, I sssssee. Sssserves the traitor right." It chuckled some more, and then it stopped abruptly when it caught something in the wind. Vaati began to feel nervous when the dragon snaked its head from side to side.

"What is it?" Ganondorf asked.

There was a low growl, and there was a tremor as Argorok took a step forward. "I sssssense a pressssence. A rat hassss been lisssstening."

 _This is bad._  Vaati felt a bead of sweat form on his forehead when he heard Argorok. He dared to take a peek at what was going on, and he realized that the dragon's entire head was covered by a black helm. Its eyes weren't visible, which meant that this monster relied on other senses to find its target.  _Hiding out of sight is no use!_

Ganondorf's voice interrupted Vaati's train of thought. "How unlucky for him. I can't waste time taking care of eavesdroppers; I have to make a move before the entire castle is alerted to our presence. Argorok, take care of the rat – I will head to the castle with this one to capture the princess before she realizes what's going on."

"Yesssss my king." Argorok arched its neck to prepare a blast of fire. Ganondorf stopped it, however, causing it to gasp and have flames curl up along the side of its helm. In the brief flash of light, Vaati saw Ganondorf and the possessed girl clearly.

"Do  _not_  cause a commotion. Take care of this quietly."

The dragon glowered, rasping as it choked on its own fire. It refused to respond, and instead let out an intangible hissing that evidenced its disapproval. The hissing turned into defeated growls, however, when Ganondorf shot a warning look. Then, without another word, the dark king and his captive walked up the steps of the patio and into Castle Town. Vaati held his breath until they were both out of sight.

 _I need to do something fast,_ Vaati thought desperately,  _but what?_

There was a grating noise as Argorok made its way up the steps and closer to where the sorcerer was hiding. Metal screeched as it dragged its armored tail onto the steps. "Jusssst how am I suppossssssed to kill sssssomething quietly?" the dragon complained. "I know where you are, little rat," Argorok snarled impatiently, heading straight towards the general area where Vaati was hiding. "Do me a favor and don't run away."

 _So it's not allowed to cause a ruckus._  Vaati's head snapped towards the castle gates. He was sure that there were guards posted near the entrance behind the doors, and that if he could just make it inside Castle Town the dragon wouldn't be able to come after him. From his understanding, Ganondorf didn't want anyone to notice the presence of Argorok before he attacked the princess and therefore the dragon's movement was highly limited. Vaati forced his legs to stop shaking and prepared to run.  _All I have to do is to make it to the gates._

"If you run, you will feel my flamesssss."

_Now._

Vaati shot towards the castle gates, paying no mind to the dragon's claims of torching him if he decided to run. It was all a bluff – he was certain that Ganondorf's orders would prevent it from breathing fire. There was a split second where the dragon screeched in fury at the sight of the sorcerer dashing away, and then it quickly suppressed its roar when it remembered what its master had said. Instead, Argorok scrambled clumsily after the sorcerer on its two claws with its wings spread out behind it to keep its balance. The dragon was pathetically slow running on its two legs; it was better off flying, but Ganondorf's insistence on not causing a commotion prevented it from taking to the air. Even so, its neck was fast and it launched its head towards the running mage. Vaati felt a small tug on his cape as the dragon's teeth nicked the cloth when it slammed its jaws shut. He was saved by a few centimeters that Argorok couldn't reach.

 _If Ganondorf hadn't told the dragon to stay quiet,_ Vaati thought thankfully as he ran,  _I would be dead by now._

The sound of crushing rock behind him sent chills down his neck, and Vaati turned his head to see what was going on behind him. His eyes widened and he slammed his heel into the ground to stop when he saw one of the stone blocks flying towards him. "What the hell? This is 'quiet?'"

The ground shook upon the stone's impact, and Argorok gave a muffled growl from where it had chucked the block with its teeth. "Jussssst die!"

Vaati rolled to the side when the dragon thundered over to where he was and swung its metal plated tail over his head. There were a few frightening seconds where Vaati could see every detail of the black metal armor as it flew inches over his face. Bits of stone exploded everywhere when Argorok's tail slammed down onto one of the blocks. Vaati felt a few chips graze his skin as they zipped past. "Why isn't anybody coming to check what the noise is from?" The sorcerer shouted exasperatedly, running for his life towards the gates. He didn't stop running until he made it past the wooden doors that guarded the castle town.

Argorok stared after the castle gates longingly when Vaati reached them, and then the dragon crawled away when it realized it had to retreat. It gave a huff of smoke, and Vaati paused by the gate to watch as the monster took one powerful flap and dove into the cliff. The sorcerer sighed in relief and he leaned against the wall to wait for his racing heartbeat to slow down. Closing his eyes, Vaati took control of his fear. It had been a while since he had actually been afraid by a monster. It was painfully reminiscent of the past he had thrown away when he had, as a Minish, run away fearfully from the cats that tried to pounce on him and his kind.

He spat on the ground.  _I hate running._

The event with Argorok made the reality of his predicament much clearer than ever. He couldn't hope to stand up against Ganondorf if he didn't do anything about his lack of magic. He was just like what he used to be before he had been granted his extraordinary powers from the wishing cap, and he was determined to get his sorcery back as soon as possible.

Suddenly, Vaati's eyes shot open when he heard a groan from somewhere by his feet. Looking down, he saw that it was one of the night watches. It was evident that he had been knocked out, and Vaati guessed that it was the work of Ganondorf who had passed through here earlier.  _No wonder the gate guard didn't come to check when Argorok was attacking me. But even if this guard couldn't check, why hadn't anyone else noticed?_

The night watch groaned again and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Nnnn… ow." The soldier's armor clanked when he slowly tried to get up on his feet. As he looked down to put his hand on the ground, he noticed Vaati's sandaled feet next to him. His eyes followed them up to see the sorcerer looking down at him with a tired expression. "I must have been knocked out," the soldier laughed sadly at his own misfortune.

Vaati's expression turned into one of contempt at the guard's reaction.  _Hmph. I forgot how spineless the guards were. Even if any of the other night watches had heard the noise they must have ignored it out of fear. Pathetic._

The sorcerer mumbled something under his breath, and he was about to leave when the guard took a good look at him

"Are you okay young man?" The soldier asked. He cast a curiously worried look at the sorcerer who was out of breath. There was a large tear in the corner of Vaati's cape where the dragon had almost caught him, and he was covered in minor cuts from the exploding rock. "Were you attacked too? It looks like they beat you up worse than me."

Vaati pushed himself away from the wall and took a moment to straighten himself out. "I'm fine. A few stray dogs were causing trouble," he lied. He decided not to mention the dragon since he figured the guards wouldn't be much help, and that they might not even believe him. He cast a cold look at the guard who didn't seem to have any incentive to go after the people who had knocked him out. "And you? Aren't you going to go after whoever attacked you?"

"Huh? Oh, um, well…" the night guard patted his hands through his pockets. "It don't think that'll be necessary. They didn't even steal anything."

"You call yourself a guard? So what they didn't steal anything, they attacked you!"

The night watch fidgeted uncomfortably. "Look, my only job is to stand by the gates and make sure nothing bad happens to the town." He repeated the last few phrases firmly like a mantra.

"That is one of the most idiotic things I've…" Vaati paused, and then sighed when he decided that he was only going to end up wasting time. "Ugh, never mind." He looked up at the sky and seemed to contemplate a difficult dilemma. Then, making up his mind, he clenched his fists and turned to the guard. "No matter, would you be able to direct me to anyone who is skilled with magic?" Vaati asked with as much tact as possible. "I require the assistance of a skilled wizard." His voice nearly cracked; it was impossibly difficult to remain polite when asking for the help of another sorcerer, but Vaati tried his best. His best wasn't very effective, however, and the soldier could sense an intense hostility in the inquiry.

"Uh… well, I believe the only person who can use magic around here is the princess. I wouldn't really consider the fortune teller Fanadi to be a user of magic…"

The soldier watched Vaati worriedly when the sorcerer glared at the ground between his feet at the news. The guard didn't regain any sense of relief even when the wind mage looked up a few seconds later with a thin-lipped smile.

"I see. Thank you." Vaati brushed past the guard and stalked off into Castle Town. He had been fully prepared to show some humility and allow another magic user to help him, but he had just learned that the only person who could possibly help him was the princess. There was no way he could ask the princess for help especially when Ganondorf was just about to take her captive. It brought him full circle to the problem of defeating the dark king.

The night watch's annoying voice called out from behind him. "Are you sure you're all right? I swear you're white as a sheet and –"

"I'm naturally pale," Vaati snapped. "Why don't you worry about standing by that gate of yours instead?"

The soldier obeyed, not recognizing Vaati's contempt. The sorcerer rolled his eyes and continued on his way.  _Useless guards._

Ganondorf was going to have such an easy time taking over the castle if he hadn't done so already. It wasn't fair. When Vaati had tried to take over Hyrule he had been interrupted by Link. Where was Link now to stop that fat pig?

Vaati stopped in his tracks at the thought of Link. He stared quietly at the ground for a few minutes, and then he gritted his teeth as his mind suggested an idea that made him want to punch himself. However, the more he thought about it, the clearer it became that this was the best option for getting out of this mess.

Vaati's current goal was to defeat Ganondorf to get his powers back.

There was only one person Vaati knew who had the remotest chance of defeating Ganondorf at the moment.

Vaati seethed at the thought. "I suppose," he mused bitterly, "I'll take advantage of that green pest to kill Ganondorf. Oh how I've thrown away my pride…"

XXXXXXXXX

Link kicked a pebble as far as he could, and angrily watched it hit a stone wall with a clatter. The guards who had captured him earlier had let him go in front of Hyrule Castle when they  _finally_ realized they didn't know why they had to follow Vaati's orders. Laughing, they had apologized. Link had found nothing funny about the situation.  _There's something wrong with the guards here. Where's the discipline?_

He didn't know what he should do next. The roads were long but deserted, and night had completely fallen. The only thing Link knew was that he had to find Vaati and get him to reveal what he knew. A part of him still refused to believe that he was in the future, and he needed to know what was going on.

His muscles tensed when he heard a distant rumble. Straining his ears, he wondered if he had imagined it. When he heard nothing for several seconds, he took a deep breath and shook his head. "I've been fighting too many monsters if I'm imagining hearing them." Link began to walk slowly and aimlessly around Castle Town again. As soon as he had taken three paces, he heard a crash that he was positive he hadn't imagined. Link picked up his pace and began to run towards the direction he had heard the noise. Something told him Vaati would be there. "Either he's causing trouble," Link panted as he ran, "or I really am mental."

His footsteps pattered on the cobblestones of the central square. They slowed down as Link took the time to figure out where he should head next. The noise had stopped, giving him no bearings on where he should go. Noticing a person approaching from across the town square, Link decided to ask if he or she knew something about the rumbling noises. "Hey," Link began, and then his voice caught in his throat when the person brought his head up. Blood red eyes flashed in the darkness.

"Oh good. I was just thinking about looking for you," Vaati smirked, a sour edge in his voice. "I see they didn't decide to completely follow my request to have you locked up."

"Of course not!" Link's foot pressed forward on the ground and his fists clenched and relaxed, not sure how to take care of the sorcerer. If he tried to take Vaati by force, the sorcerer might pull the same trick from earlier and accuse him for assault. Link wasn't used to handling things diplomatically – he had always let his sword do the talking. Then, something struck him. "Wait… you were looking for me?" he asked with suspicion.

Vaati crossed his arms. "I decided it would be better for me if I went along with you," he said huffily. When Link didn't look convinced, Vaati spread his arms and sneered. "I'm pretty sure that works for you."

"Why did you change your mind all of a sudden?" Link tensed when Vaati took a few steps forward. The sorcerer only shrugged, laughing, and casually took the lead into town again. It was then that Link noticed a large tear in Vaati's cape that wasn't there before, and he remembered the loud crashing noises from before. "Vaati… what happened to you while I was away?"

The sorcerer paused in his steps. When he tilted his head slightly in Link's direction, the blond could see a few cuts that were on the sorcerer's face. Vaati immediately lost his airy tone. "I ran into Ganondorf," he said crisply.

"Ganond- but hold on, if we're in the future, then why is Ganondorf in the future?" Link demanded. None of this was making much sense to him, and he hated how Vaati wasn't telling him anything even though he seemed to know what was going on.

"If we're in the future," Vaati sniffed, "why can't Ganondorf be here too?" The sorcerer waved impatiently at Link to follow. "Just follow me for now, understand? We're too close to the castle," he cocked his head over to the castle gates that were only several yards away from the central square, "and I don't want Ganondorf to see us yet. I'll explain what I think is going on later."

"He's attacking the castle?" Link breathed. His expression hardening, he turned halfway as though he were going to rush into the castle to fight.

"I suggest you don't," Vaati said stiffly when he noticed Link's expression.

"I can't just stay here and let Ganondorf take over the castle!"

"Oh yes you can." The sorcerer's voice was stern. "You don't stand a chance against him right now. He's not someone you can defeat with an ordinary sword, as much as I hate to admit it."

Link said nothing. He knew that what Vaati said was right. Still struggling with the idea of retreating, he refused to look at the sorcerer. Vaati strode over to Link and glared at him coldly.

"This is the last chance I'm going to give you, boy. Either you come with me now or -"

"Or what?" Link interrupted. "From what I'm hearing, you need me."

Vaati's cheeks burned and his face was twisted in ugly rage. That was the last thing he wanted to hear, especially since it was so close to the truth. "I don't  _need_  you, brat. I simply believe it will be advantageous to us both if we pool together our resources."

Link walked past him. "Tell me everything. I'll judge what to do next depending on what I hear."

The sorcerer shot a scorching look at Link's back. "Fair enough," he hissed.


	9. The Warp Paradigm: A Sorcerer's Theory

Link and Vaati found a deserted part of the town. It was a little side street that went down a flight of stairs that led towards a sketchy little bar and inn. The two sat down on the stairs as far away from each other as possible while still being able to be heard. Once they were settled, Link stared at Vaati expectantly. The sorcerer took a deep breath, leaning against the wall of the inn haughtily.

"I don't know what Ganondorf is after, or what his plans are," Vaati began, "I could be wrong, but I believe he's the one responsible for sending us into the future."

"So… you really think we're in the future?" Link asked. He shook his head. "I don't believe it. I don't care what that pamphlet said: it could have been a misprint."

The sorcerer's expression softened momentarily into one of pity. "Someone is in serious denial."

"It makes no sense though!" Link waved his hand around him. "So many people recognize me. If we're in the future, then there must be two me-s: one from the future and one from the past. Therefore, there has to be two Triforces, and two Triforces of Courage can't exist in the same time period because that would mess things up too much."

Vaati nodded. "I agree. We could be wrong, but I also don't think there can be two Triforces in the same time period." He held up a hand when Link scrunched his brows in confusion. "Let me explain. I think that, when you found yourself in the future, you replaced your future version. It's not entirely farfetched as you might think – as the chosen hero who is reincarnated over the years, your soul must be used to jumping from one body to the next. By jumping to the future, I assume all you did was overwrite your future self."

Link frowned, baffled. "You mean when I came here my future half vanished from existence?"

"Possibly. Again, this is all speculation. However, it would explain why you remember everything about your past self and nothing about our future self. Seeing what happened to you as well as Ganondorf, I would guess the same thing befell your dear princess as well."

Link became more attentive at the mention of Zelda. "The princess! You think Zelda is at the castle?"

Vaati smiled cynically. "I'm certain. In fact, Ganondorf mentioned he was going to go after the princess tonight when I met him earlier."

Vaati's smile vanished when Link rounded on him. "What? Why didn't you tell me Zelda's in trouble?"

"And what good would that have done?" the sorcerer's acerbic tone sliced through the air that was thick with tension. "You think either of us can beat him as we are now? Don't make me laugh." Vaati scowled. "You've rescued your little damsel in distress once, you can do it again. Though I would like to see you dead, having you die right now will be troublesome."

Link took a few steps towards the direction of the castle, and then circled back towards the side street where Vaati was watching him judgmentally. "I don't like it," he grumbled, and then sat down on the stairs in acceptance. "So you think that the three of us are in the future as we were in the past because we're connected to the Triforce?"

"Correct." The sorcerer sighed heavily. "It's a troublesome thought: no matter how hard I try, I would probably never be able to completely get rid of you. I've witnessed you reappear in different incarnations throughout my lifetime."

"You've lived that long?" Link looked up in surprise. "You're like a cockroach with that endurance."

"As are you," Vaati retorted. "At any rate, you understand my point so far, do you not? Or are you as stupid as you appear to be?"

Link crossed his arms and nodded.

"Good, so you admit you're stupid. We're finally getting somewhere. Now, there is another reason… shut up Link, just listen… there is another reason why I believe our past selves replaced our future selves. It's the way Opal creates portals that's key, and I'm sure she's involved in this because I saw her with Ganondorf. Have you seen them before?"

"Not really," the hero played with the hem of his tunic when he began to let the idea of being in the future sink into his head. "She mentioned something about switching pieces of the world though."

"I've seen it once, and experienced it twice. It's a unique spatial warping magic where a certain matrix is replaced by another in a different coordinate." When he noticed Link didn't seem to be following, he strutted over to an advertisement posted on the wall and ripped it off. He tore a small square piece from the piece of paper and showed it to Link. "It's like this," he said slowly, waving the paper square in front of his face. "I can move this ripped paper and," he ripped another square piece of a similar size from another section of the advertisement, "and place it over here." He moved the square he had ripped initially and placed it over the hole of the second piece he had ripped. "Then I replace the other piece to where the first piece was." Placing the torn advertisement onto the ground, he patted the two switched pieces of ripped paper into the two holes.

"Oh I get it," Link said after seeing what Vaati had done. "So you're saying that two locations of the world swap with each other." Vaati nodded confirmation, and tilted his head, puzzled. "Now what I don't get is how that relates to time travel."

The wind mage pointed his finger in the air in a declaratory manner. In those few seconds, Link could imagine the sorcerer to be a hired teacher instead of a world domination crazed lunatic. He could easily see him in front of a chalkboard as a rather grumpy teacher, but he didn't say that to Vaati. Something told him that he wouldn't appreciate the comment. "At first glance it doesn't seem like time should have anything to do with warping, but in the grand scheme of things time has everything to do with warping." Vaati struck out two fingers and pointed at each one as he went through his arguments. "There are two general types of warping; one of which is popular and the other which is not. The popular way is thus because it is relatively easy and efficient compared to the other way. It involves manipulating the probabilistic laws of being in a certain location at any given point in time, and then using the powers of sorcery to make the probability of being in point A greater than the probability of being in point B, which is your current location. I will appear in point A because the probability of being there would be higher than the probability I would be standing in my original location. By changing the laws of reality with magic, I can teleport anywhere I want as long as I have a clear mind on the coordinates of where I want to be."

Link sat through the lecture with a tired look on his face. This didn't sound simple at all. Vaati paid no attention to Link's "I-don't-really-care-about-this" face, lost in his own chatter as he was.

"The other way is much more complex, and hardly anyone learns this alternative form of warping because it's so inefficient, complicated, and ultimately useless. This is the warping Opal uses that I described earlier with the pieces of paper." Vaati's tone became increasingly elitist and condescending; it was evident he thought his way of warping was far superior. "It's inefficient because it requires the magic user to not only take control of the laws of space, but the laws of time. When I want to replace one area matrix with another area matrix, everything that is found in each matrix  _must_  be defined by how it was  _at a given time_. Time travel is therefore possible if the magic user changes the function of time, but not the function of space. It's highly unreliable, and unlike the single parameter 'classical warping,' the caster would need extreme focus in 'swap warping' to make sure both space and time parameters coincide with each other."

Vaati paused for some time, and his eyes shone with a curious light as an idea came to him. "In the cases of insignificant magic users like Wizzrobes, attempts to use this 'swap warping' will probably go unnoticed because their sorcery is so weak. I suppose more distinguished magic users like Opal or myself would demonstrate greater effects like this large area-time-travel that would be harder to ignore." He muttered something about considering learning 'swap warping' when he got his magic returned to him. Time travel could be useful if used tactically…

Link stared at the sorcerer blankly. Everything that Vaati had said was a convoluted jumble of the boring technical aspects of magic. "… I'm lost."

Vaati stopped his little rant, and then frowned disapprovingly. "I'm not surprised I just wasted my breath on you. Just accept the fact that you kicked your future self out of existence."

"… So, what you're saying is that everyone else didn't have to go through the replacement process because they weren't connected to the Triforce?" Link asked. Vaati exaggerated relief that Link seemed to finally get it.

"That's my theory."

"Then why are you still here? You don't have the Triforce."

On cue, the sorcerer twirled his wrists as though he were going to perform a spell. Instead, some blue runes spiraled around them. "I can only think of one reason, and that's this spell binding curse Opal afflicted on me. It's a type of curse that's connected to the one who cast it." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It's really the only explanation I can come up with at the moment."

Link took several minutes to think about everything Vaati had said. He stared at his boot that was listlessly rubbing the dirt off of the cobblestones. "If we can get Opal to switch ages, we still have a chance to return to our own time period."

Vaati sneered, still in a foul mood. "Finally you seem to be comprehending something."

The blond ignored the red-eyed mage. Instead, he muttered to himself with resolve. "I'm going to defeat Ganon, dispossess Opal, and get her to take me back." He stood up, stretched, and turned towards the sorcerer. "You're coming with me."

Vaati didn't even try to hide his victorious grin. "Of course. I'll let you do all of my work." His eyes narrowed as his nasty little smirk widened.  _And then I'll erase you when everything is finished._ This was going just as he had hoped. He would go with Link and let him be useful, and then once Ganondorf was disposed of he could regain his sorcery and get rid of Link. He was also aware that Link would have no choice but to keep him at his side. If Link went off on his own to defeat Ganondorf, then Vaati can still return to the past and stay hidden from the hero long enough to get his magic back – considering Opal was more on Vaati's side than Link's that wouldn't be too difficult for the sorcerer to do and Vaati would be able to reign again. Link was forced to either keep an eye on the sorcerer or kill him on the spot, but considering the hero's nature Vaati knew that the latter was unlikely to occur.

Link stood up as Vaati walked off to leave. "We should find a place to stay for the night," the sorcerer said as he moved up the stairs. Link's voice stopped him halfway.

"Are you saying we should retire for the night?" Link asked harshly. "How can we do that when we're both aware that Ganondorf is trying to take over the castle if he hasn't done so already? We should find a way to defeat him, not lie about." He didn't like this idea of taking a rest during a time of urgency; he was used to taking immediate action whenever there was a problem.

Vaati gave him a long look. Already they were disagreeing on things, though he wasn't too surprised. "It's not my style to rush into things without having a decent plan, and to have a decent plan requires a good night's rest."

"By that time it might be too late."

Vaati growled. "Then why don't you go think on your own? I'm going to find somewhere to sleep." As soon as he took another step up the stairs there was a soft meow by his feet. Whatever instinctual reaction left over from his life as a Minish made Vaati flinch away from the large, fluffy white cat that had appeared at the top of the stairs. "Oh, a cat," the sorcerer said stiffly, trying to hide the fact that he had been spooked. He tried to walk around it, but the cat merely arched its back and hissed, its grey bow tied around its neck disappearing behind its fur that stood up on its end.

Link was amused. "I think that cat agrees with me." He walked up next to Vaati and knelt down in front of the cat to pet it. As Link extended his hand, the cat flattened its ears and stared at it almost critically. Then, it lashed out with its paws and batted Link's hand away. "Hey," the hero cried, bringing his hand away hastily.

The cat looked up at Vaati and meowed again. Showing no fear of the evil wind mage, it padded over to Vaati and rubbed its head against his legs, almost pushing him towards the bar that was at the end of the side street they were in. Vaati stiffened: cats were natural enemies of the tiny Minish race, and having once been a Minish he still felt uneasy around felines. It was an old habit that was hard to break, and the fact that Vaati didn't have any magic to use for defense made him well aware of his instinct that told him "run away!" Just as Vaati was about to consider kicking the cat away in disgust at his own unfamiliar feelings, a booming voice of a woman held him back.

"Louise! Where are you Louise?"

The owner of the voice was just as booming: it was a plump, bawdy, middle-aged woman who looked as though she could take on anything. Upon hearing its name, Louise the cat meowed from between Vaati's feet and scampered over to the woman. The cat then gave an unblinking stare that pinned the other two to the spot. The woman noticed Link and she exclaimed in surprise.

"My goodness Link! I didn't know you were around. It's been too long since you visited." She picked up the white feline who continued to stare at them intently. "Louise also doesn't seem to want you to go either. It's late – why don't you stay the night?"

Vaati frowned when the cat meowed again.  _This cat…_

Louise the cat momentarily closed its eyes as the woman scratched its ears absentmindedly, and then it stared at Vaati while it purred. Vaati could swear it was smiling knowingly. It continued to watch him even as the woman hobbled back towards the bar, bumbling in a loud voice about getting a few drinks fixed up for them and that they should come inside before they became too cold.

Vaati smirked when he noticed Link looking after the woman with a troubled expression. "Actually Link, I think the cat agrees with me."

With the sorcerer walking into the bar triumphantly and with the woman telling Link to hurry up inside, the hero had no choice but to follow Vaati. He had a bad feeling about having any dealings with the bar owner who seemed to know him: well, know the future version of him at least. As soon as he walked through the door, he prepared for an awkward encounter when the bar owner happily began to ask him questions on what he'd been doing.

"Have you been showing those guards how they should be going about things?" The lady asked, sweeping the bar counter clean of empty glasses. "The Princess placed you with the Royal Guards," she winked knowingly, "I'm sure she wanted to keep a close eye on you." Vaati moved a safe distance away when the plump woman ruffled Link's hair. The sorcerer was not going to have  _his_  hair ruffled.

"Er…" Link gave an incoherent mumble, not knowing how to react to the situation. The woman noticed his discomfort.

"Mmm? Is something wrong, Link? You know I was just teasing."

Out of the corner of his eye, Link noticed Vaati roll his eyes impatiently. The wind mage offered an explanation.

"Link is suffering from amnesia."

"What?" The woman's head snapped back to Link and two sausage fingered hands grabbed the boy firmly by the shoulders. She looked at him for a few intense seconds, giving Link an opportunity to notice the dots of paint on her cheeks. Link craned his neck away just as the woman's face fell in horror. "Link dear, you don't remember me at all? It's me, Telma."

"Erm…" Link hesitated under the woeful gaze, and then shook his head while laughing apologetically. "No, I don't."

Louise the cat sidled up next to Telma, swishing its tail slowly from side to side. The cat appeared interested by this piece of news.

"But you visited me regularly; this was practically your second home."

Link looked off to the side, eager to escape Telma's grasp. "Really…"

Telma seemed insistent in making Link remember, however, and refused to believe he didn't remember anything. "Are you saying you don't remember the time you so kindly escorted that dearie Ilia, the Zora boy, and me to Kakariko Village? No? Or the time you jousted that King Bulblin at the Great Bridge of Hylia? You were  _so_  handsome then."

There was a snort, and Link glanced over to see Vaati suppressing a laugh. Link shot him a look and hissed between his teeth, making sure Telma didn't notice. " _Get over here and help me!"_

Amused by the turn of events, Vaati was about to refuse and leave Link under Telma's iron grip when he noticed the woman quickly striding towards him. Vaati's snickers abruptly died down, and he glared at Louise when the cat gave a low purr as though it were laughing at him.

Telma prodded Vaati backwards with an accusatory finger. "Is something funny, mister?" Before the sorcerer could reply, she continued, "and who might you be? You wouldn't be responsible for his amnesia, would you?"

The sorcerer took a revolted step back. "Don't touch me, woman." He instantly regretted his choice of words when Telma towered over him like an angry bull.

"Excuse me?"

Vaati stuttered, mentally kicking himself for being so defeated. "Uhh… I mean no, I found him the way he is now. Well he had an accident and – " He stopped halfway through his sentence and rubbed his face when Telma flicked his bangs, causing them to slap into his eyes. Vaati's expression was one of pure poison.

"Purple hair?" Telma frowned disapprovingly, not paying any attention to the way Vaati was glaring daggers. "That's quite an unusual taste you've got there, kiddo. Link, I'm not sure I like you spending time with these types."

Link, who had been laughing silently at Vaati's situation, quickly straightened up with a serious look when Telma turned around and made her way over to the bar counter. She mumbled something under her breath; most likely something unpleasant about Vaati. Telma wiped down a glass, and held it up to the two boys asking if they wanted a drink before they retired. Vaati sullenly refused, in no mood for spirits while Link refused on the reason that he felt guilty about drinking alcohol. Though he appeared older as his future self, in his mind he was still underage. Shrugging, Telma dismissed them with a grand wave of her hand. She still sounded sour about the sorcerer's presence, who she was convinced was the reason for Link's misfortunes. "Go upstairs, and take the room at the end. I'm afraid it's the only room we've got right now." There was a soft meow as Louise pattered up the steps and disappeared.

Vaati, who had been sulking in the corner from his humiliating experience earlier, suddenly shot up with a horrified look. "We are not sharing rooms," he exclaimed declaratorily. Next to him, Link nodded earnestly in agreement.

Telma huffed with a 'get-over-it' face. "I'm not charging you any rupees. It's the best deal you'll find."

The two exchanged glances. Then the sorcerer began slowly, "Link, how much money do you have on you? I don't have any rupees." He watched Link silently fish around his pockets. Vaati's sense of trepidation increased fourfold. "… I'm guessing you don't have any either."

Without warning, Telma walked up and pinched Vaati on the cheek. "I knew it! Link, dear, did you spend all of your money wasting away in bars with this fellow?"

Link looked thoughtfully at Vaati who was angrily, and even slightly fearfully, trying to get Telma to let go of him. It was all too funny to see the infamous wind mage under the mercy of a middle-aged lady. "Well I woke up in the middle of the street yesterday morning with no memory of how I got there." He laughed apologetically as Vaati's eyes widened.

 _Oh no you don't!_ Vaati thought.

"We might have drunk a little too much. Sorry," Link completed with a smile, which Telma took as abashed while Vaati took as vengeful.

_Why that little -_

"That's a lie!  _Ack_." Telma had given the mage a hard tug on the cheek.

"If I see you near Link again…" the bar owner trailed off threateningly, letting Vaati's imagination fill in the gaps. The sorcerer meanwhile narrowed his eyes and shot a withering look at Link.

_I am going to kill you._

Even without his magic, Link discovered Vaati could still appear extremely terrifying. Deciding the sorcerer had had enough, he put an insistent hand on Telma's shoulder. "He's been through a lot. He wanted to forget things," he tried to say gently, finding that difficult to do with Vaati's eyes clearly sending him the message on how much he was going to pay for this later.

Telma glanced from Link to Vaati, unsure if she should believe Link especially with the scorching glare Vaati wore on his face. Still, if Link was so sure, then so be it. Telma let go of Vaati with a sigh. "All right, I understand. I know how people sometimes want to forget deeds with alcohol but," she brought a finger up to Vaati's nose in warning, "don't do it again."

Vaati blinked, his expression of menace dissipating under Telma's strict voice. He nodded weakly, "Yes'm."

"Good. Well, you two boys get a good rest. I'll have breakfast ready by the time you come downstairs." She winked flirtatiously at Link and waved them out of the room.

Vaati visibly relaxed as he edged his way around the bar and up the stairs, out of sight of the bar owner. This experience of no longer being the most powerful sorcerer in the world was teaching him many new things, including being careful about how to behave in front of big, imposing bar owners.


	10. Mages Armed, Heroes Harmed

As soon as they were out of sight of the imposing Telma, Link took a deep breath. "What a woman," he said. In front of him, Vaati's hat bounced as the sorcerer quickly made his way up the stairs and away from the bar owner.

"Don't remind me," Vaati rubbed his cheek where he had been pinched. "Can't say I understand your tastes though."

_Whap!_

"… That was uncalled for." Now Vaati had one hand on his head where Link had hit him and one hand on his cheek. He had run out of energy from his experience with Telma to get back at Link for daring to whack him.

"She just helped me with my previous adventure," Link said, voice wavering from remembering the questionable wink Telma had sent them off with, "nothing more."

"You just keep telling yourself that."

Link put his hands around the hilt of his sword and gave Vaati a warning look as the two reached the door of their room. The sorcerer glanced back wearily for a moment at the other boy's annoyed expression, and then gave a heavy sigh as he pushed the door open and walked into the room. "You know what? The more time I spend in this world the more I hate it," he grumbled, whipping his cape dismissively. "At least back then people gave me respect."

A wistful look came over him. Suddenly turning around and making Link stumble back in surprise, Vaati fiercely pointed a finger at Link. The blue runes from his curse flared around his wrists. "To Stone With You!"

Link simply looked at him in confusion. There were several seconds of awkward silence. "Huh?"

"Huh, never mind. I was just remembering the better days." Vaati hopped on the only bed in the room and eyed Link coldly. "You're sleeping on the floor."

Too tired to argue, Link shrugged and shook his head. He pulled over the rug by the door and rolled over its corners to make something that resembled a pillow. He'd slept in worse, even in dungeons; compared to that, this wasn't so bad.

At least, that's what he kept telling himself.

XXXXXXXXX

Vaati couldn't sleep even though he had been looking forward to the blissful emptiness devoid of his worries. Link had managed to fall fast asleep despite the fact that he was sleeping on the floor; he was probably used to sleeping in places that were less than ideal. The sorcerer frowned, jealous of Link being able to sleep so easily.

All of the memories of the events that had happened since his fight with Link kept him awake. In all his years of fighting Link and his incarnations, he had come to expect only two outcomes – to win or to be resealed trying. Death he never expected since… well… that just didn't happen. However, never in his many years of existence did he expect to ever find himself in a situation where he would have to work with Link.

He didn't know how long he would have to work with that imbecile. The real problem now was to figure out how to defeat Ganondorf, and at the moment Vaati had no clue since the Four Sword had been useless against him. That weapon was the only one the sorcerer knew about that could defeat enemies that were "almost-but-not-quite" as powerful as he was.

He still refused to admit the possibility that Ganondorf was his equal.

Vaati squinted his eyes and brought up his wrist in front of his face. He let out a rapid string of spells in his seventy-eighth attempt to get rid of his curse, and for the seventy-eighth time all he got in response was the taunting ring of glowing blue runes that circled around his wrist. He clenched his fist, and then slammed it down into the sheets of his bed in frustration.

(Oh, now that's interesting.)

Vaati's ears pricked at the barely audible voice he had heard from somewhere in the room. Slowly turning his head to the side, he scanned the darkness for the presence. His gaze wandered over to Link who was sleeping peacefully on the floor to see if he had been talking in his sleep, but he was sure it wasn't the blond. What his ears picked up hadn't been Hylian.

"Who's there?" he whispered.

(Ahaha, only a cat. Not that you'll understand me though.)

Now Vaati was sure he had heard the voice. The sorcerer glowered. "Tsk. Just that cat." He paused. Then, "I understand you all right."

There was a surprised mewl from somewhere up above on top of the wardrobe in response. (Really?) Two bright feline eyes glinted down at him, and Louise poked her nose down from her perch. (You sure are interesting, dear.)

Vaati sat up in his bed. "What are you doing here?"

(I was just curious. I can't be the most informed cat in town without keeping an eye out on the most unusual people who drop through.) Louise licked her paws and then circled back to the edge of the wardrobe, making sure she was a good distance away from Vaati. (I heard everything you and Link were talking about. It sounds like you're not actually a good person, oh mister evil sorcerer.)

"Then why did you side with me?"

(Only because I agreed with you in that Link was going to die needlessly if he stormed the castle without a plan. If you harm that boy I'm not going to be pleased with you.)

"Like I need a stupid cat's approval…"

(For the most part though, I was just curious about the two of you.)

"Well you won't find anything worth gossiping about with your kitty friends here," Vaati replied gruffly before falling back onto his pillow.

(That's for me to decide, isn't it?) The cat swished her fluffy tail from side to side. (Why can you understand me, anyway? I've never met a person who could understand animals.)

"That's none of your business," the sorcerer growled. He couldn't be bothered to explain that the Minish race understood animal speech. He hated the Minish culture and everything about them; it only fouled his mood to be reminded of his ties to them.

Louise gave a Cheshire smile. (And just how are you going to defeat the King of Darkness, hmmm?)

The sorcerer mumbled beneath the covers. "None of your business, you damned cat."

(Then it's none of my business to tell you how to find that sword.) Louise jumped down onto the floor and pattered over to the door.

Vaati's eyes shot open.  _Sword?_  He flipped the bed covers off of him and rolled over on his side to stare at the cat that was now pawing the door of the room to open it. "What sword?" Vaati demanded. Louise momentarily stopped her efforts of opening the door, and then went back to batting the wood with her paws. Vaati scowled. "If you're talking about the Four Sword then it's useless! That sword won't work."

Louise tilted her head to the side so only a part of her face was visible. Her cat eyes glinted in the darkness, and she gave a low purr that was analogous to the amused chuckling of someone who had been proven right. (I don't know what I'm talking about,) she replied teasingly, making Vaati's hate for cats more pronounced.

Vaati had half a mind to get out of bed and strangle the cat.

Louise pushed against the door and squeezed through to the other side. (Someone who Link knows is bound to visit the bar tomorrow before noon. Ask them about a sword that Link used to have,) her voice drifted through the half-open door.

After a few minutes, a draft of wind made the door shut on its own with a slam. The sudden noise made Link snap awake, and the green-garbed boy unsheathed his sword in one automatic movement. He quickly surveyed his surroundings only to see there was nothing in the room besides the sorcerer and himself. Link relaxed, and put his sword away while grumbling at Vaati. "Oh, it's only you."

Vaati said nothing, continuing to look at the closed door with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Stop being so loud, I can't sleep," Link mumbled before flopping back onto his pillow rug. "It sucks to sleep on the floor, and you're not making the experience any better."

The sorcerer said nothing, and dropped onto his pillow as well. He had a small, annoyed smirk on his face as he tried to go to sleep once more. "Damned cat," he grinned.

XXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, Link was forced awake when Vaati unceremoniously threw open the curtains and let the sun shine into the room. Link groaned and rolled over, squeezing his eyes shut when the bright rays fully hit his face. "Close that," he said groggily, flopping his hands tiredly at Vaati who was surveying the town with little interest.

"Get up," the sorcerer huffed, still looking at the street below him. "We've got work to do."

It was no use arguing. Vaati wasn't going to close the shades, and Link would have to get up himself to close it, which would mean he would have to wake up anyway. Grumbling and groaning, Link rolled over again and slowly pushed himself up so that he was sitting. His back hurt from the hard floor, and he was not in a good mood from having been woken up so suddenly. "If you didn't need to sleep so long you could've spared me the bed," he muttered, rubbing his eyes and letting them get used to the light.

"Hmph, I'm not going to sleep on the floor like a poor street hermit," Vaati scoffed indignantly. He turned around from the window and strutted over to Link. "Come, show me your weapons inventory. I need to arm myself."

"What? Now?" Link still wasn't fully awake yet.

Vaati tapped his foot impatiently. He had spent the last fifteen minutes thinking about how to fix his problem of not being able to defend himself, and he had reached the conclusion that he could take whatever Link had. Now that he knew a solution, he was impatient to get to it.

"No, I'm sick of going around helpless." Vaati crossed his arms haughtily. "Before, I could blow up a city if I so desired. Now I can't even stop an aging woman from bossing me around."

"You and your ego…" Link added, "And you shouldn't underestimate aging ladies."

Vaati grinned. "Speaking from experience?"

"Shut up." Link stretched, and then reached over to grab a modest sized bag hanging from his tunic. "Here, just take whatever one you…" Link stopped, and then swung his offering hand back away from the sorcerer who had been ready to grab it. "Uh, never mind. I'll look through it first before I stupidly give the guy who wants to kill me all of my weapons."

"So mistrusting."

"I'm pretty sure you're not exactly on my side."

"That's true."

Link pulled the string around the bag that kept it shut. "All right. Do you think you can handle a bow?"

"I'm not sure. Hold on, you don't mean to say you keep everything in that tiny bag?" Vaati tried to get a better look and he knelt down next to Link.

Link spun the bag around in his hands. "I know, weird huh? It's just one of these things that came with the tunic. I just try not to think too hard about the mechanics: out reasoning the logic of it might make the bag stop working."

Vaati raised his eyebrows. "What an idiotic thing to believe."

"You're not getting anything if you keep making fun of me," Link retorted.

"Trying to find a solution to something will not make the magic of the object go away. You sound like someone from the old days: 'oh dear Nayru save me, lest I start wondering why the world is round and I become unable to stay on the ground.' Stupid." The sorcerer reached over and snatched the bag out of Link's hands.

"Hey!"

Vaati pushed Link away so he could take a look at the bag. He couldn't see inside of it except an bottomless darkness. Reaching his right hand inside, he thought about the set of bow and arrows that Link had mentioned before. "Hmmm." He felt the hand touch the arch of a bow, and he pulled it out of the bag. The sorcerer smiled broadly. "Ohhh someone must have enchanted it with the labyrinth spell with a few modifications. How very clever. It's the same spell I use to create those infinite hallways in my palace."

Link reached out and snatched the bag away from Vaati's hands. "I'm not letting you take that." Then, he took a good long look at the bow. "I'm taking that too," he declared, swiping the bow away from the sorcerer as well.

"Return that at once!"

"No." Link gripped his possessions firmly. He was much more awake than before and he was beginning to think clearly. "Come to think of it, I don't know why I need to give you weapons in the first place."

Vaati shot up from his crouching position in rage. "You  _will_  listen to me, you insolent fool."

"Or what? Look, if you don't have a weapon, then you can't threaten me, you can't hurt me, and you'll be utterly pathetic." Link stared at Vaati whose face was flushing crimson. Something occurred to the blond, and he glanced back at the bow that was in his hands. "Aw crud, that's a problem. You'll be so pathetic that I'll have to come save you every time something attacks you." He tossed the bow over to the sorcerer. "I don't want to deal with that. I'll let you take a weapon."

"How  _dare_  you mock me," Vaati snarled.

"What's that? Do you want me to not give you anything? Just hurry up and take it."

Giving Link a blistering glare, Vaati picked up the bow and an arrow from the quiver that had come with it. Wordlessly, he tried to get the arrow knocked onto the bow.

"Um… maybe we should get you something else." Link watched, amused by Vaati's attempts.

It took the sorcerer a full fifteen seconds before he had the bow loaded. The next bit was causing him more problems, as he couldn't pull the string back far enough for it to do decent damage.

"This is stupid," Vaati dejectedly threw the bow down onto the floor. "What else have you got?"

"Hold on, here! Er…" Link watched in surprise as an enormous ball and chain crashed onto the floor and splintered some of the wood. "Wow… I never knew I had that."

"That's probably something 'future you' had." Vaati picked up the end of the chain and tugged. The ball didn't budge. "Next?"

"But you haven't even tried to swing it yet."

"Very funny Link. I'll stuff this up your face if you don't show me what other things you've got."

"Can you even pick that up high enough to – all right, all right! We'll try something else."

The next item was a bag of bombs. Link pushed it off to the side with the other 'no-good' weapons before Vaati even had a chance to look at it. "I am not giving you that."

The sorcerer frowned. "Why not? I've used bombs against you before; I know how they work." He reached over for the bag of bombs, but was stopped by Link's stern look of disapproval.

"Bombs not only have the wonderful potential to hurt enemies, but the added bonus of hurting your allies. I'm worrying about my own safety; I could care less if you self-destructed." Link slapped Vaati's hand away from the blue bomb bag. He sighed when the sorcerer looked at him in a way that Link could see 'how dare you?' written across his forehead. "Look, just listen to this scenario. Link and Vaati encounter a group of moblins. Link, with his sword, rushes in towards the moblins. Vaati throws a bomb at the moblins fighting Link. The moblins and Link all blow up and die."

"That sounds splendid. Give me the bombs."

Link stopped Vaati with his sword. "I thought you wanted to come with me?"

"No, I did not  _want_  to go with you. I kind of  _had_  to go with you."

Link tightened his grip on his sword. "I can hypothetically leave you to rot in this town while I figure out a way to get back to the right era, all by myself. Do you want that? No, I thought not. Moving on."

Link reached into his bag and pulled out a slender pole. Vaati wrinkled his nose.

"… Link, that's a fishing pole."

Link gave it a swing. The little frog lure bounced up and down at the end of the hook. "Did you know you could actually cause damage against monsters with this? You should give it a tr-"

"NO. Next."

Link's next item was something that looked like a large top. It was brown, and had a cog-like edge that could freely rotate along its periphery. Link brought the object eye-level to see if he could figure out what it did. "I guess it's another item of 'future me.'" He tossed the item over to Vaati. "It would really help if I had future me's memories right now."

Vaati gave the top a few experimental spins, making the rhythmic whirring noise of machinery fill the room. With a bored gesture, he threw it over his shoulder where it clattered and spun on the floor until it stopped. "Next."

Link and Vaati pondered over their next item, a white rod with engravings of ancient Hylian written along the wide arcs at the end of it. Vaati squinted his eyes as he tried to read the writing. "It says it's the Dominion Rod," he turned to Link for advice, "what does it do?"

Link shrugged as the sorcerer gave it a swing. "I don't know; I've never seen that before." He watched Vaati shake it in the air. "It doesn't seem to do anything," the blond observed.

Frowning, Vaati gave it another swing. The rod hit one of the bed legs, making Link wince from the explosive ringing noise. Vaati smirked, and then noticed the impact had dented the furniture. "It's pretty sturdy." He then tossed the rod into the 'junk' pile. "Next."

Link reached into his bag and he immediately began to look excited as he pulled the weapon out. "Hey Vaati! This should be great for you!"

"What? What is it?" Vaati leaned closer, impatient to get a weapon.

"Even kids can use this effectively, so it should be no problem for you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" The sorcerer asked flatly.

"Here," Link tossed the slingshot and a bag of seeds to Vaati. The sorcerer snatched the toy out of the air, loaded it with some pumpkin seeds, and fired some shots at Link. "Ow! Hey, that hurt!" Link protested, until he saw Vaati pull back on the rubber band and aim another shot. "Okay, I guess that's a 'No.'"

Vaati fired anyway, causing the seed to whack Link squarely between the eyes. "You'd better rethink just who, exactly, you're talking to."

"A bitc – "

"NEXT."

Link was beginning to look exasperated, and Vaati was becoming increasingly upset since it appeared there was nothing in Link's inventory that he could effectively use. Overall, the atmosphere inside the little room was becoming stuffy with irritation.

"You know, if your physical abilities weren't so below average we'd probably be able to find something you'd be able to use," Link groaned.

Vaati said nothing, but gave the slingshot another warning pull.

Link gulped, hastily waving his hands in front of him. "Okay, okay! We'll find you something." Vaati nodded, and fired a shot over Link's head.

"The faster you find something for me, the less you'll suffer."

"I'm beginning to have second thoughts on arming you."

Vaati fired again; this time letting the pumpkin seed hit the other boy in the face. "You'll have more than second thoughts if you don't hurry up."

Link growled, and took out his next weapon.

They looked like sturdy gauntlets, except the end had metal claws instead of fingers. Link turned them over in his hands and scrutinized them carefully. "They're Clawshots," he explained once he was sure what they were. He passed it to the sorcerer who had stopped aiming at Link with the slingshot. "I don't quite understand why I have two of these instead of only one."

Vaati put one on his hand and held the Clawshot up to the light to take a better look.

Link continued to explain. "They're not really good for fighting. I used it mostly to move across large chasms, or to quickly move up a ledge. That's not to say you can't use them effectively against monsters."

Vaati tugged at one of the claws. He half-heartedly listened to Link's description of the item.

"I sometimes used it to either stun monsters or – "

At this, Vaati grinned and aimed his Clawshot at Link. Before the blond had a chance to react, the sorcerer fired, expecting the weapon to stun Link. Instead, he was surprised by a result he hadn't expected.

"You  _freak!_   _Get away from me!_ " Vaati violently shoved the startled Link who had been grabbed by the Clawshot and had been forcefully pulled closer to the mage.

Link pulled at the metal claws that were hooked into his tunic. They snapped away and returned back to the glove on Vaati's hand. "I was just about to explain that they can be used to move enemies closer to you as well." He scowled at Vaati, "Why do you have to try my weapons out on me? I'm going to keep you defenseless if you do something like that again, and if you end up getting hurt I'm just going to explain to the royal council when I get back that you'd experienced an accidental death."

"All right, all right, I'm actually sorry I did that." Vaati squeezed his knees to his chest, slightly traumatized by his idea that had backfired. He muttered something under his breath, griping.

Shaking his head, Link put the Clawshots away and reached into the bag one last time.

"I think we're down to the last weapon," he announced.

Vaati managed to look up from his huddle. "If I don't like it, I'm getting the bombs."

Link prayed that the next item would actually be useable by Vaati. If this one didn't please him, Link was going to have to spend the next however-many weeks with the fear of being blown up, accidentally or purposely, by his nemesis. Tentatively reaching into his bag, his fingers touched the soft down of feathers.

He was disappointed when, instead of a completely new and impressive weapon, he pulled out a boomerang. It was fancier than the boomerang he had had in his time; one side of its blade was adorned with white feathers, while the other blade was sharper and capped by gold. However, he knew that boomerangs were hardly meant for killing monsters, and he assumed Vaati wouldn't want a weapon that could only stun. He wordlessly handed it over to Vaati and watched his reaction carefully.

Vaati let the boomerang sit in his lap for a few minutes, occasionally running his fingers along the feathered tip of the weapon. He surprised Link with his verdict. "I want this."

"Really?" Link asked, incredulous. He was about to point out that it was almost no better than the slingshot regarding damage, but then decided against it. Who was he to encourage Vaati to pick the bombs? "Can I ask why, out of curiosity?"

The sorcerer shrugged. "I just want it. Now stop asking or I'm going to change my mind."

Link nodded, and began to put away the weapons now cluttered all over the floor. Vaati took another look at the boomerang he held in his hands. Although he had threatened Link that he might switch weapons, he had just been bluffing. The moment his hands had touched the boomerang, he knew that this weapon was for him. He'd needed some time to see if he hadn't imagined the feeling, but the more he'd had it in his hands the more convinced he'd become. The weapon hadn't been clumsy or awkward in his grip, either, like some of the other weapons, and there was something about it that reminded him of the rush he got when he had once been able to cast spells.

Vaati was surprised when he felt a presence stir in his mind.  _You hold the Gale Boomerang._

"What?" Vaati quickly turned his head to see who had spoken. He puzzled over the boomerang in his hands. Was it possible that this boomerang… ?

"Have your weapons ever talked to you before?" Vaati waved the boomerang at Link.

The other boy stared at him, and then shook his head sadly. "I should've known from the beginning that you were insane."

The sorcerer ignored him. Link hadn't heard the voice, so did that mean he had imagined it? He tapped the boomerang a couple of times against his palm. A few wisps of wind curled around the boomerang's edges. Vaati cracked a smile in delight; no wonder he liked the weapon. It used magic. Wind magic.

"Are you done making friends with my boomerang?" Link asked impatiently.

Just before the idea of trying his new boomerang on Link could emerge in Vaati's head, a loud meow was heard from behind the door of their room.

(Are you dears still asleep? It's practically noon and breakfast has been ready for a long time.) There was a light pawing at the door, and then another meow. (A visitor has arrived, and he knows Link quite well. You know what that means, don't you? I know you can hear me, sorcerer.)

Vaati perked up at the sound of Louise's voice. He shrugged to himself, and then stood up while twirling the boomerang around his fingers. "Telma says breakfast is ready."

"How do you know?"

"The cat told me," Vaati grinned.

Link watched Vaati walk out the door, taking a moment to stoop and pet the cat before striding down the stairs in an obviously good mood. Link sighed.

"He's totally gone in the head."


	11. Planning the Next Step

Vaati, full of suspicion, poked his breakfast. "You humans eat the most disgusting things imaginable." He brought up a piece of egg to his nose and gagged. Though he may have appeared Hylian, he had grown up as a Minish and still hadn't gotten the concept of eating things like cuccoos around in his head. Link, meanwhile, was shoveling forkful after forkful into his mouth.

"What do you eat anyway?" Link asked.

"Not this." Vaati pushed his plate back away from him and instead scanned the room for the 'visitor' that Louise had mentioned. There were things he wanted to ask that person, whoever he or she was. Just then, they heard a voice call out from upstairs as a man rushed down to greet them.

"Link! You're up and awake." The man had a rugged appearance with a sword slung across his back. He wore an odd helmet that covered half of his face, concealing his features. "Telma told me what happened; you don't remember me do you?" When Link sheepishly shook his head 'no,' the man took a heavy breath. He removed his helmet, revealing a thick eye-browed face with sharp mustaches outlining his lips. "I didn't want to believe it, but it seems that what Telma told me was true."

Vaati kept his gaze fixed on the man, trying to find a good opportunity to speak.

The man walked over and leaned against the bar counter, picking up a glass and absentmindedly playing with it. "I finally find you only to see that you've lost your memories. We were all worried about you, Link, and especially Ilia. That poor girl's been worried sick ever since you just decided to run off out of the village without telling anybody."

Link stared at his half-finished meal guiltily; what a jerk his future self was, to make people worry like that! Telma noticed Link was looking gloomily at his plate.

"Rusl, don't make Link worry about things like that. He has enough problems as it is considering he's lost his memory."

The man named Rusl sighed and put the glass back down on the counter. He turned to Link apologetically. "Sorry Link. I guess I wasn't being fair to you. It's just so frustrating since you disappeared on us, and now there's a new problem we have to worry about…"

Telma caught Rusl looking her way with his last phrase. It was very subtle, but Vaati's quick, scrutinizing gaze was able to pick up the nod from Rusl and Telma reach for something under the bar counter. The sorcerer's eyes narrowed when he noticed Telma momentarily lose her color.

Link noticed Vaati staring at Rusl in an unsettling manner. He frowned. "Is something wrong?"

The sorcerer stirred at the question, and then blinked as though he were noticing Link for the first time. Then, he yawned lazily and twirled his fork between his fingers. "Oh, I was simply wondering if there was anything we could do to help with this new problem," he probed, looking at Rusl sternly. His eyes only wandered once to look at Louise who had decided to see what was going on. The cat appeared to be grinning smugly.

Rusl considered the sorcerer for a bit. "I'm sorry, but this matter is personal." There were a few seconds when Rusl could have sworn an icy glint had appeared in Vaati's eyes, but it was so brief that he couldn't be sure. Rusl asked cautiously, "Are you a friend of Link's?"

An almost sarcastic, bitterly amused smile broke in Vaati's face before it transformed into a pleasant smile. He was the epitome of politeness. "An acquaintance," he said, his voice somewhat strained. "I am Vaati, the Sorc-"

"His name is Vaati. I'm sorry I forgot to introduce him to you," Link interrupted hastily before Vaati's ego blew his cover.

Vaati huffed, and though he still smiled, his hostility was evident as he stabbed his egg. "A pleasure," he said coolly. "You seem well acquainted with Link." Vaati prodded his fork that was standing upright in his breakfast, making it fall with a tinkle.

Rusl nodded carefully, aware that the sorcerer was up to something by the way he watched him like a snake. "We're both from Ordon."

"Then perhaps you can help us," Vaati glanced at Louise again who was staring at them intently with her cat eyes. He grinned – this was the person the cat had talked about. "You see, Link and I were searching for a sword he used to have."

Link frowned. "We were?" his frown seemed to say, though he remained quiet when the sorcerer shot him a look of warning.

"Do you know anything about it?" Vaati prompted.

Rusl stiffened. "What do you know about it?"

Vaati laughed loudly. "Well, don't just throw  _my_ question right back at me! That's what I asked first." Still chuckling quite rudely, he picked up his knife and began to saw through his sausage with no intention of actually eating it later. "I see we're not going to get anywhere at this rate, so I'll say this bluntly," he finished dissecting his sausage and dropped his knife, steepling his fingers in front of his face, "Ganondorf is here and Link needs his sword to beat him."

There was a crash from behind the bar counter when Telma dropped some of the glasses she had been carrying. Rusl opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before he was able to actually say something. "That's impossible!"

Link wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "It's true. He's here."

Telma stood up from behind the counter after cleaning up the broken glass. She looked worriedly at Rusl. "It would explain why the stones have gone dim…"

"Stones? What stones?" Vaati asked.

Rusl sighed, and then moved away from the bar counter to join the two at the table. He regarded Vaati with severity. "I need you to tell me everything you know."

The sorcerer grinned. "Of course, but only under the condition that you tell  _me_  everything  _you_  know. Let's keep things fair, shall we?"

Rusl frowned. He didn't trust this pale, sinister looking so-called friend of Link.

There was a pause, and Link took the moment to reassure the other man that he didn't have to worry about giving Vaati information; he still wasn't sure what the sorcerer was getting at, but from the mention of a sword he could take a guess on what Vaati wanted. "Rusl, you can trust him," Link threw up in his mouth a little from defending his enemy, "we're both trying to find a way to defeat Ganondorf and we need all the help we can get."

That seemed to finally convince Rusl to take his chances with Vaati. Still mistrusting, he looked defeated as he reluctantly gave in. "All right. If Link says we can trust you, then I'll trust you. I only ask that you keep everything that's spoken here a secret – if we find out you ratted on us –"

"That's enough Rusl! Have a little faith in Link, dear. The boy says we can trust his friend, so we will," Telma said roughly. She hadn't noticed Vaati rolling his eyes, annoyed that no one besides Link recognized just how frightening he used to be. Link, meanwhile, felt a pang of regret for insisting that Vaati was trustable, because he totally wasn't.

Rusl simply nodded, and then continued. "You wanted to know about Link's sword?" He stroked the corner of his mustache thoughtfully, and then shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I don't know too much about it. The only thing I know is that it's called the Master Sword."

"The Master Sword?" Link and Vaati exchanged glances. They've never heard of it before.

"It's also called the Blade of Evil's Bane. I didn't think the sword actually existed until I saw Link with it. There are stories that it's found deep in the Faron Woods, but no one besides Link was able to find its exact resting place." Rusl smiled sadly at Link. "I still don't know where it would be – you hardly ever talked about your adventures after you came back." The man took a deep breath, "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help, boys, but that's all I know."

Vaati sat contemplating what he'd heard for a few seconds, and then smirked. "That's all we wanted to know, thank you. You've been most helpful."

Rusl leaned forward in his seat. "I've told you what you wanted to know, so I'd like to know a few things as well." He reached over and placed a small, round stone in the middle of the table. It appeared ordinary, and neither Link nor Vaati could see anything remarkable about it. "After the last ordeal with the Twili, Princess Zelda instructed each of the members of the resistance to carry a stone she had enchanted. If she were safe, there would be a small gold triangle on the stone. If not," he tapped the grey stone on the table, "there would be nothing on the stone."

Vaati picked up the stone and tossed it in his hands. Catching it, he absentmindedly rubbed the stone with his thumb. "Clever."

"The purpose was so we would be notified as soon as possible of the Princess's safety. The Royal Guards are, I'm afraid, not very reliable during times of crisis."

Link and Vaati nodded earnestly as they both had first hand experience on what the Royal Guards were like. Link, however, still felt some loyalty to the guards. "I thought our Royal Guards were pretty decent," he whispered to Vaati. The sorcerer arched his eyebrows and made a face.

Rusl turned to Vaati. "You mentioned something about Ganondorf returning, and it coincides with the fact that this stone's triangle has disappeared. Do you know anything about what might have happened?"

Grinning, Vaati stood up from his seat. "Like I said earlier, Ganondorf has returned and probably took over the castle last night."

At this, Link scowled, remembering how Vaati had kept him from running in to save Zelda.

The sorcerer picked up his knife and twirled it between his fingers. He then stabbed it through his toast, bringing it up to his face as he spun it lazily in front of him. "Link and I will take care of him. Just take us to Faron Woods." When Rusl hesitated, Vaati narrowed his eyes and bit the toast that was hanging off the edge of his knife. "And when I say 'take us to Faron Woods,' I mean 'take us to Faron Woods  _now_.'"

Link stood up as well and pushed Vaati back down. "Don't be rude. Rusl, will you be able to take us to the woods?"

"Well, um, are you sure you'll be all right Link?" Rusl faltered. He couldn't keep his gaze off of the mage as he shot back up armed with a butter knife in his free hand. Rusl only hoped he had been mistaken when he heard Vaati tell Link he'll "gouge his eyes out."

Before Link could answer, Telma appeared behind Vaati. She whacked him across the back of his head, causing the sorcerer to drop his toast and knives. "I've been watching you take apart your breakfast from the beginning, and I've been keeping quiet about it but I've run out of patience."

"What are you talking about?" Vaati snapped, rubbing the back of his head in offence. He quickly shut up when he gained another whack.

" _Don't play with your food_  – you're not three years old anymore."

Link suppressed a snicker as he watched Vaati holding in a growl out of fear of getting whacked across the head for a third time. Armed or no, the sorcerer had no chance against Telma. Link turned to Rusl, laughing. "I'm pretty sure I'll be fine."

The man shrugged. "If you say so." He stood up and shooed the two back up to their rooms. "Start packing then. We'll leave in an hour."

XXXXXXXX

A large shadow streaked across Hyrule fields, sending the local monsters running out of sight in fear. To a normal person standing on the ground, the creature flying high up above the sky would have looked like a large hawk but the monsters in the area knew better – that was no bird.

Argorok scanned the fields below him, hunting for someone who resembled the hero of legend. The dragon didn't rely on sight, but instead on unique registers of Force emitted by different creatures. It worked wonderfully well for hunting in barren places such as his usual area of reign high up in the sky, but Lord Ganon clearly did not understand that finding one person in a huge area with many people and other creatures was not a simple task.

The twilight dragon growled frustratingly to himself as he remembered how oddly his king was behaving. Lord Ganon appeared to have no recollection of his second in command, Lord Zant from the Twili realm, and Argorok had also come to the realization that Lord Zant was no longer alive. When had that happened? Why hadn't he heard about it? And why in Majora's name did Lord Ganon not care, since the whole plan revolving the Twili realm had been the dark king's idea in the first place?

Another thing that was bothering Argorok was some of the other Force registers he had sensed that didn't make sense to him at all. There was a powerful collection of Force from the direction of Ordon that he understood as belonging to Diababa, a monster who should have been slain by the Hero of Light. It was all too confusing, like he was missing important bits of memory.

Argorok hissed, folding his wings next to his sides and taking a steep dive towards the ground. He opened them at the last minute; catching enough speed to hurry across the plains and making the air give a shrieking whistle as it moved through his armor.

It was the Render. He was sure that Ganon's amnesia regarding the plan with the Twili, the disappearance of Lord Zant, and the reappearance of fellow monsters that should have been dead had to do with the appearance of the Render.

"HISSSSSS," Argorok suddenly snarled and then took one powerful flap to shoot back up into the air. He slowed down, hovering in place above the grass that bowed to the wind; if he had eyes to widen in his shock, he would have done so. Instead, he slowly hovered in place with his forked tongue hanging from between his teeth.

What if… what if  _he_ had been brought back from the dead like that Diababa?

It was a frightening thought – but at least that would explain why he had suddenly appeared at the Palace of Winds with no memory of how he had gotten there.

The only problem with that theory was that he didn't remember ever dying.

Still, Lord Ganon didn't remember him and that was a fact. The king had been standing before him along with the Render, and he remembered the way the Gerudo had looked at him as though he had never seen him before. Granted Argorok himself never had the grace to speak with the king often, but he was sure he should have been recognized. He vaguely recalled the conversation that had transpired at the Palace of Winds:

" _Lord Ganon, I've done as you've requested. Hyrule is now inhabited by monsters the hero would never have set eyes on," the girl standing next to Ganon spoke almost lifelessly._

" _Excellent. We need more from the Dark faction to take over, but it would be pointless to have the ones from the past return since they had proved to be failures. We want Link to be unprepared."_

_Argorok swung his head towards the odd girl, wondering who she was. It was then he noticed her Force register was the similar to those from the ore class demons; but what ore class demon would disgrace itself by taking the form of those despicable creatures of the Light faction?_

" _And who is this?"_

_Lord Ganon's voice quickly made Argorok snap to attention. The dragon spoke with a curious lisp from his bad habit of having his tongue hanging out of his mouth. "It issss Argorok. You do not remember?"_

_Ganon gave the dragon a frightening look. He turned to the girl. "How can that dragon know me?"_

" _It's possible a future incarnation of you existed and you have taken his place. I have changed eras, but the way it was done still follows the principles of warping where I replace one area with another."_

" _Warping… YOU. You musssst be the Render! A traitor and a coward, how dare you return to show your face!" Argorok roared. Spreading his wings in fury. "You refussssed to fight assss sssson assss the ssssword wassss created! Traitor – I will kill you mysssself in the name of the King of Darknessss!"_

" _Argorok, was it? If you're going to kill my new pet under my name, I think you better consider that I would rather keep this useful pawn alive for the time being."_

_At this, the dragon hunched its neck in shame as though it had been slapped. "Ah, I ssssee." Then he swung his neck towards Opal, snapping. "But ssssince when issss the Render working with ussss?"_

" _That's none of your concern. Now take us to Hyrule; that was why you were summoned here in the first place."_

"…  _Yessss my lord."_

Come to think of it, Lord Ganon had mentioned something about 'future incarnations' and changing eras. What was that all about anyway? Could it be that Lord Ganon and the Render were actually from a different era?

Argorok scowled under his helm and circled above Hyrule fields once more to search for Link, who he had been ordered to find and kill. He shouldn't have any reason to think about those kinds of things. Who cared if the king was from the past or the future?

All that really mattered for the dragon was that they won this war against Light.


	12. Ordon

Hyrule was still oblivious to what had occurred at the castle when Rusl, Link, and Vaati stepped out of Telma's bar. None of them were surprised, however. The townsfolk mostly worried about their daily routines and the Royal Guards were, well, they were the Royal Guards. The future guards weren't the valiant ones that Link had remembered from his time; these guards preferred to ignore a problem lest they be called in to fight, and there was a general air of unawareness. Rusl grumbled how useless they had been the last time Hyrule had been attacked. "Cowards, the lot of them," he had said. Apparently in the last crisis Hyrule had encountered, the majority of the competent guards had been murdered, leaving the untrained guards to take over. Hearing this, even Vaati appeared unsettled: the furthest he'd ever gone was to turn the guards into statues, which he thought was a more elegant way to dispose of them. Bloody murder was too animalistic for his tastes.

"It was all Ganondorf's doing," Rusl explained.

Link maintained a silent fury, while Vaati's mouth twitched into a frown.  _How crude._

Link and Rusl walked together through southern Hyrule field; Rusl talked about what the future Link had been like, while the blond time-traveler listened quietly. Vaati, meanwhile, trudged on ahead, experimenting with his new boomerang. Link was impressed by how quickly the sorcerer had been able to master the weapon. He had been expecting Vaati to have trouble with conventional weapons because he had an image of the wind mage being reliant on magic. Instead, Vaati had learned how to move the weapon's trajectory in any path he liked. Within a few more throws, the boomerang was able to create small tornadoes of wind along its path, something not even Link was sure he would be able to do. As Link watched the vortex created by the boomerang zigzag across the plains, he suspected Vaati's mastery had something to do with his affinity to wind.

The ex-mage loved the boomerang. It still wasn't as good as being able to control the wind however he saw fit with a twirl of his wrists, but it was better than nothing. He took aim at a pterodactyl-like creature that had been foolishly following the three, no doubt trying to find an opening to attack.

The monster squawked as the wind from the boomerang tumbled it through the air. Dizzy and confused, the Kargaroc flopped to the ground. Vaati grinned, and shoved the creature with his foot. "Ha! You're not the master of the sky anymore, are you?"

"Caw!" The monster stretched out its neck and snapped at the sorcerer, only to be slapped across its beak by the sharp edge of the boomerang. The Kargaroc flinched backwards, and then took to the air when it determined that it had picked a bad fight.

Vaati smirked maliciously. "Ah, ah, ah," he tutted, "come back here." He swung his boomerang towards the retreating bird, making it swirl back to his feet. This repeated several more times as the Kargaroc tried to fly away and Vaati continued to bring it back towards him in a daze. For the first time since he had lost his magic, Vaati was clearly enjoying himself.

Link watched the poor thing totter away from Vaati in exhaustion. "Uh, sorry," he excused himself from Rusl. Link walked over to the tortured Kargaroc and put it out of its misery.

Vaati glared. Once again, the green pest had ruined his fun.

Link shook his head. "There's no need to torture your foes any more than you have to."

Crimson eyes narrowing, Vaati threw the boomerang towards Link. Link managed to dodge swiftly, but not before the sword in his hand was swept away by the wind. The boomerang carried the blade back towards its master who appeared momentarily surprised by the outcome. Vaati grinned triumphantly as he picked up his new prize.

"I'm warning you, boy. When all this is over I'll make sure I kill you slowly for all of the misery you've caused me." He pointed the sword at Link, his chest puffed out in confidence.

Unperturbed, the hero waved a hand towards Rusl who was watching the exchange with a tired expression. "Hey Rusl? Can I borrow your sword for a second? Thanks." Link drew Rusl's sword and held it out in front of him in a fighting stance.

A fleeting look of nervousness passed Vaati's face, and the sword he held fell a little as he lost some of his confidence. He had completely forgotten about Rusl's sword.

"That's not a toy you're holding," Link smiled, noticing the sorcerer's uneasiness. "If you point it at someone you'd better be ready for the consequences."

Vaati growled and made a jab at Link. The blond easily rolled away from the awkward attack, sidestepped, and positioned himself behind Vaati. Before the sorcerer could turn around, Link had given him a good kick, sending the lavender-haired mage sprawling on the ground.

Link made his way towards the sorcerer and reclaimed his stolen sword. "Vaati? I thought they said you were an expert with the sword. Didn't you win the swordsmanship tournament when you first appeared?" the hero asked, disappointment in his voice. He had been expecting a decent sparring match, and had been a little excited about the possibility of practicing against a formidable opponent.

Vaati slowly got up on his knees and wiped the dirt away from his clothes. He sat in sullen silence.

Rusl moved over to the mage and offered his hand to help him up. Vaati pointedly ignored him, stood up, and brushed himself off with his back still turned to Link. "You forget I could use magic back then," he muttered.

"You cheated?"

Vaati whipped around, his gaze acidic. "Mark my words you'll regret ever making a fool of me." No sooner had he taken two steps to storm off dramatically, he collided into a running figure, completely ruining his declaration.

"Ooohhh," a scrawny man wearing a red postman's cap groaned where he had been knocked backwards. He then noticed Vaati on his hands and knees next to him, his knuckles white and trembling in fury. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry sir!" The postman jumped to his feet after the quick apology, and without wasting another minute he reached into his mailbag and offered a letter to Rusl. "Rusl, sir, you have mail."

It took a while for Link to get used to the scene that had just played out before him. He had just witnessed someone run Vaati over and then completely ignore him. It was true that Vaati was relatively harmless without his magic, but the sorcerer could still appear terrifying when he was angry. Looking at the slightly awkward way the postman was swayed from side to side, however, Link concluded that there were people who were oblivious enough to miss the sorcerer glaring murderously at them. And boy, was this postman weird: Link couldn't decide if the huge red flag with the picture of a rabbit strapped onto the man's bag or his extremely short shorts were more offending to the eyes.  _Those shorts should be illegal…_

Rusl seemed used to the postman and quickly ripped open the mail without giving the man a second glance. While Rusl opened the letter and began to read it, the postman turned to Vaati who was still scowling.

"Ah, are you Vasheel Gallows? I have mail for you as well."

"I'm Vaati," the sorcerer said flatly.

"Oh. My mistake then." The postman considered Vaati a little longer. "Mmm are you  _sure_  you're not the peasant boy who lives around here?"

" _Peasant?_ " Vaati snapped.

"Okay, I guess not. Well I have to run so I can make my delivery schedule!"

Before Vaati could cause any harm, the postman ran off speedily to his next delivery, all the while mumbling how he was going to be late. There was a rustle of paper as Rusl stuffed the letter inside his pockets, a concerned look on his face.

"The other members of the resistance know about the castle now," he stated. "They should be planning their next course of action soon, so that's good. What I'm worried about is what Auru mentioned in his letter."

The other two turned their heads, wondering what was up.

"Auru mentioned he saw a large monster flying around the field like it was looking for something. We'd best be careful."

Link's hand wandered over to his sword. "You think it's looking for us?"

Vaati huffed. "Undoubtedly. We'll just take care of it when we see it."

"You mean  _I'll_  take care of it."

The sorcerer shook his boomerang at Link. "Don't underestimate me." Then, he stomped off towards the direction of Faron woods.

XXXXXXXXX

The three had made it to Ordon village before sundown, and Link gratefully thanked Rusl for his decision to keep his arrival a secret.

"I think it's for the best," the man stopped in front of a modest house built around a tree. It was just outside the main village and sat in a cozy nook right by the forest. "Everyone will eventually figure out you don't remember anything, and I don't want them to worry. You'll be thrown into an uncomfortable situation."

"Thank you. I wasn't sure how I would have to behave." Rusl looked at him quizzically, and Link realized his mistake. He had been thinking about how different his character must be from his future self, and had forgotten that Rusl only knew about his amnesia and not the fact that he was a completely different person.

The man let it slide. He just nodded and didn't press further questions. "I'll take you into the Faron woods tomorrow." Rusl reached down at the rock sitting by the doorway of the house and found a key. He inserted into the lock and opened the door. "You're going to be on your own after we reach the forest. I don't know where the sword lies, but it's in there somewhere. I have a feeling you should start your search at the Forest Temple to find clues." Link and Vaati followed him into the house. "Get a lot of rest. The Temple used to hold monsters, and I'm not certain that they've all gone. I'm afraid I won't be able to search with you because I have my own duties to attend to. I hope you understand."

"We understand. Please don't worry about us, and thank you for all your help," Link smiled gratefully.

Rusl returned it. "Link, I don't deserve your thanks. You've done more than your share of fighting," he said softly. "You're going to come back to Ordon village in one piece, you hear me?"

Link nodded. Rusl tapped him on the shoulder and left for the village, turning back once to give Link a parting wave.

XXXXXXXXX

Link wondered if the house that Rusl had offered them had been where his future version had resided. He noticed Vaati scrutinizing a slightly blurry pictograph of a blond farm boy that was hanging on the wall; the person in the pictograph was the spitting image of him.

Scowling, Vaati sniffed and whirled around. "I hate it. I hate how you always look the same in every single incarnation. It's like the goddesses are making fun of me every time I go against you."

Link frowned. "It's not like I have any control over what I'm going to look like." He walked over to the ladder propped against a ledge. It led to the second floor where he imagined the bedroom was. Link was about to prepare something he could lay on, thinking Vaati would steal the bed again, but was interrupted by the purple mage.

"Go, take the bed. The entire house, actually." Vaati made for the door. When he saw Link looking puzzled, he snorted cynically. "I'm not being nice, if that's what you're thinking."

"Oh. I was about to ask if you were feeling all right."

The sorcerer glowered. "I just feel incredibly sick staying in this house."

Vaati stepped outside, letting the cool wind soothe him. There was no way he was going to spend the night at Link's house; he'd lose his self-respect. The mage looked around for someplace he could sleep, and he settled under a pine tree that was a few feet away. He rolled his cape over himself like a blanket, smiling contently that his cape, a symbol for power, also had utilitarian qualities.

Once comfortable, he stared at the night sky and reflected on everything that had happened so far. He instantly grimaced when his thoughts were unpleasant ones. One of these days he should stop reflecting on things before going to sleep – it gave him nightmares.

_I'm going to make you pay for doing this to me, Opal._

He settled for a happier line of thought.  _Then I'm going to take over Hyrule._

For a few more minutes, Vaati continued to stare at the sky that increasingly became a dark navy as night fell completely. The wind rattled a target dummy standing between the trees.

The sorcerer blinked in surprise: he had been confident that the thought of taking over Hyrule would be able to brighten him up, but instead there was a foreign feeling in his chest. He had felt a flicker of uncertainty when he had thought about taking over.

 _Me? Unsure about taking over Hyrule?_  Vaati shook his head violently. What happened to the old Vaati? Was Link rubbing off on him?

Goddesses the brat was like a disease.

He angrily punched a tree.  _I am DEFINITELY going to make you pay, Opal._

The sorcerer stared at his fist, a little red from hitting the bark. A few seconds later, his face relaxed into a smile; uncertainty had been replaced by excitement at the prospect of getting revenge. _That's more like it._  Reassured that his old, evil self hadn't died out, he decided to let sleep take him.

 _After I get my magic back,_ he thought as he drifted off to sleep,  _Hyrule will experience my wrath once more._

XXXXXXXXX

Somewhere deep within Faron woods within the ancient Forest Temple, a slight tremor caused the resident owl to jump off of its perch in surprise. These tremors had become quite common since a day ago, and the nocturnal bird didn't appreciate them at all. With a hoot, it flew around the cavernous hollows of the temple in search of a midnight snack. Maybe it could find something decent tonight; ever since the monsters had been cleared out of the temple by the hero boy from Ordon village, even the rats had moved elsewhere and disappeared giving the temple owl some trouble in catching meals. The owl ruffled its feathers as it considered moving somewhere closer to the mountains instead.

The bird landed on an overhanging branch to take a rest, and looked downwards to see if anything edible might scamper by in the meanwhile. Suddenly, its neck twisted crookedly until its head was upside down, its beady yellow eyes staring at the greenish purple swamp below it in confusion. The owl didn't remember seeing the noxious looking pool yesterday. As it continued to stare, bubbles began to form on the surface of the liquid.

"Hoo-?"

" _Grrrrraaawrrr!_ "

Massive jaws of a carnivorous plant shot up from the pool, snapping the bird, perch and all, into its maw. Though without eyes, it appeared to follow one of the owl's feathers as it drifted down towards the ground. With a tiny hiss the plant, which appeared to be a larger species of the common Dekubaba plant, slithered its head back into the poisonous pool and gurgled some more of the liquid into the pool.

The edge of the swamp water inched further out, and a little more of the grass near the water withered and died.


	13. The Forest Temple

The next morning, Rusl arrived back in front of Link's house to lead them to the temple. When he noticed Vaati resting outside instead of in the house, the man gave Link a scolding thinking the boy had kicked the sorcerer out. Link's protests that it had been the sorcerer's own choosing had been in vain, and Vaati only regarded the exchange with an entertained sneer.

Link and Vaati followed Rusl towards the woods. They passed by a clear spring.

"We're leaving Ordona Province. The temple and the forest itself are in Faron Province, but there's really nothing in that area besides the woods. No one really lives there," Rusl explained. And he was right; the farther they left Ordon the quieter the woods became. Vaati could sense that subtle, natural tranquility that was a sign of little disruption by man: fairies lived here. And where there be fairies, there was that cursed sword somewhere nearby.

Vaati chewed his tongue. At least it meant they were on the right track.

It didn't mean he had to like it.

"This is as far as I'll go," Rusl stopped as the path narrowed, curving gently deeper into the forest. "Just follow the path from here and it should lead you to the temple. As long as you don't leave the path you shouldn't have any problems finding it."

"Thanks again, Rusl," Link shook his hand.

"I won't be seeing you for a while. I have to leave the village and meet up with Auru." The man left with a wave. "Good luck you two!"

Link waved back, and Vaati murmured a reply. As soon as Rusl was out of sight, a wicked gleam appeared in the sorcerer's eyes. Link noticed.

"Uh… so are you ready?"

Now a sinister grin blossomed. Vaati chuckled, caressing his boomerang preciously. "Perhaps not. I haven't had much practice with this boomerang against a real target because  _someone_ ," he stressed the word 'someone' with an accusatory tone, "stopped me."

"What, the Kargaroc?"

"Stand over there for a second." The boomerang twirled between Vaati's fingers and stopped sharply when his thin hands clamped down on it.

"Why d –  _what are you doing?"_  Link yelped when he ducked just in time to avoid being hit by the powerful gust that flew over his head.

"Tch, you dodged," Vaati muttered, sounding annoyed. He expertly caught the weapon that had returned to him. "I'm practicing, of course."

"On me?"

There was another turbulent gust of wind, and just like in the fields, Link's sword escaped his grip and flew back towards Vaati. This time, however, there was no Rusl to give Link another sword. The sorcerer snatched the weapon out of the air, glanced at it with a sneer, and tossed it to the side. "You made a right fool out of me yesterday."

"Is this some kind of petty revenge? Because we don't have time for this."

"You asked if I was ready. I'm not. So I'm practicing."

"Yeah but…"

Another violent gust approached, and Link ran for it. He made a sharp turn thinking he could dodge the weapon, but was surprised when the boomerang whirled around and followed him.

"That's right fool, run away!" Vaati chortled in glee as he sent the Gale Boomerang in a tight arc towards Link. Link stumbled away in a hurry.

"I knew it was an excuse, you ungrateful mage!" Link saw stars for a second when the boomerang outran him and whacked him across his head. He saw it coming back and brought up his shield. "Screw it."

There was a loud clank as the boomerang ricocheted off of the shield and flew somewhere else. Vaati cursed as it flew out of view.

"You weren't supposed to do that."

The two heard a loud squawk from the direction where the boomerang had gone. In a gravelly, screechy voice like someone with a bad case of phlegm, a voice called out. "Woo! Hey! Woo!"

Biting his lip, Vaati walked over to where the voice had come from and where his boomerang had disappeared. The calls led him to a small shop run by a talking blue parrot. It twisted its neck towards the sorcerer and cheerily flapped its wings.

"Woo! Hey! Woo! You're super!" it trilled. The bird clutched the Gale Boomerang in its talons.

Vaati bristled; he was helpless again and he didn't like it. Still, he wasn't about to be outdone by a mere parrot. He was Vaati, the greatest sorcerer to have ever lived. "I'm going to give you two options, and I'll give you the grace to choose. You can either give me that boomerang," he pointed at the weapon nestled tightly under the parrot's claws, "or you can suffer while I pluck out all your feathers and roast you over a pit."

The bird cocked its head and clucked, unfazed at all. "Options! Woo! New item on sale!" Fluttering its wings, it brought its beak closer to Vaati and mimicked the sorcerer's contemptuous expression. "Three hundred rupees. Woo!"

Vaati grabbed his boomerang and shook the bird away from it. The parrot hopped over to the side of its perch and stared at the sorcerer expectantly. The sorcerer scoffed. "Like hell I'll pay for it."

By this time, Link had caught up and was snickering at Vaati. He watched the mage try to leave only to receive a sharp jab in the shoulder. Vaati rubbed where the parrot had pecked him.

"Three hundred rupees," the bird demanded. It swayed from side to side, hopping from one foot to the other impatiently.

"I do not pay anyone,  _imbecile!_ " Vaati roared. He made a grab for the bird's neck but it was too fast for him.

The parrot screeched. "Stop! Thief!"

"Oh shi-"

The bird took the air and swooped downwards to dive-bomb Vaati. The sorcerer let out a yell as the parrot nearly collided with him.

A few yards away, Link rolled on the ground laughing as 'the great sorcerer' tried to flee the little blue blur vigorously chasing him. The mage ran all the way to the entrance of the Forest Temple before the parrot gave up with a squawk.

"Evil doesn't go unpunished. You of all people should know that by now," Link grinned as he approached the gasping mage.

Vaati wheezed between words. "Shut…  _pant_ … up…  _pant_ … Link…" Vaati paused as he tried to regain his breath.

Sorcerers weren't really known for their cardio.

Vaati noticed Link holding two bottles of red liquid. "What're those?"

"Oh, just something I found at the shop."

The sorcerer gave the hero an accusatory glare. "You nicked it."

"Thanks to you." Link put the two bottles into his pouch.

"Whatever happened to your 'evil doesn't go unpunished,' theory?"

"We're so righteous all of a sudden?"

Vaati scowled, swinging his weapon roughly. "No. I'm just annoyed you weren't attacked by that stupid bird while I was."

Link laughed. "Stop complaining. You were actually useful this time – be happy."

"Just keep insulting me, Link. One day, I'll repay you so well for everything that you'll be on the floor screaming from my generosity."

The Forest Temple was within a great hollow tree in the middle of Faron Woods. Rotting leaves squished beneath their feet as they made their way into the first chamber, but besides that the place was eerily silent. The vague outlines of ancient vines along the walls as well as the totems propped along the path emphasized the haunting atmosphere. A few torches were lit, lighting the area with their flickering flames; Vaati wondered who had lit them.

"Well, I guess there isn't a huge monster infestation here," Link stated. His words echoed emptily in the halls.

"Don't be so sure." Vaati's boomerang spiraled towards the torches in the room, snuffing them out. The smoke curled in the air for several seconds before a small fire sparked and lit the torches once more. A tiny, barely visible lantern hurried away after it had lit the fire.

Link started. "Creepy."

"I knew it. Torch Poes; they're dungeon caretakers. They're not fighters so we don't have to worry about them, but the fact that they're here means monsters are around." Vaati spun the boomerang around, sending it flying towards the vines this time. Purple puffs of smoke occasionally appeared where the boomerang had passed.

"What was that?"

The sorcerer caught the returning boomerang. He scrutinized the green ooze that was stuck on the boomerang's blades, and then wiped them off with his sleeve. "Probably walltulas." Vaati picked what looked like a hairy stick away from his weapon. It was the leg of a spider. He flung it away, and then noticed Link looking worried with creases above his eyebrows. "Something wrong?"

Link hesitated. He tried for a smile but it wasn't very convincing. "I was just thinking about big spiders."

Vaati continued to wipe the boomerang slowly with his sleeve and regarded Link for some time until the other boy fidgeted uncomfortably. A nasty sneer began to creep up the corner of his mouth. "I read up on the monsters of this era in the library earlier. I thought it would be good to know what I would be dealing with." He watched Link stiffly turn on his heel and progress further into the temple with his sword drawn. "I'll share what I read: walltulas usually hide behind leaves and wait for unsuspecting heroes to walk past them."

Link jumped when Vaati casually sent a small gust around the chamber, sending the leaves swirling into the air. Link shot him a look. "Stop that."

"What? I'm only clearing the path." Vaati grinned. "Walltulas gather in small groups, and they're light enough that they can crawl or drop onto their prey without being noticed."

"I learned enough about monster spiders, thanks."

"After they reach the neck,"

"Vaati."

"They sink their fangs and pump poison into their victim," the sorcerer grabbed Link's neck with his thumb and forefinger curled like fangs.

Link yelped and stumbled forward, almost throwing his sword into the air.

Vaati cackled gleefully. "Link! You're scared of spiders?" Vaati was clutching his sides, choking from laughter. "You should've told me!" He sniggered as Link recovered. The sorcerer dodged Link's fist and scampered up the steps leading to the next room.

"I'm not," Link said, harried. He angrily followed the laughing mage and tried to appear unafraid. His hands were white with tension. "And wipe that grin off of your face."

"Ahahahahahahahaha! Next time I build my castle I'll fill every room from floor to ceiling with spiders!"

As they ventured deeper into the temple, Link became bothered by something about the temple. Everything about the Forest Temple screamed "dungeon crawl" to Link, and he had been expecting one. Or maybe it was just him and his chronic accessibility of seeing every monster-infested labyrinth as a dungeon. Oh and if the name "Temple" didn't mean "dungeon," he didn't know what did.

So if this was a dungeon crawl, then why was it so easy? There were hardly any traps, puzzles or locked doors that hindered their progress. In fact, there were no locked doors at all.

"Vaati, don't you think it's a bit strange that this dungeon is a little too… easy?" Link pressed his hand against one of the doors in the dungeon, and then knelt down to pick up a heavy chain with a lock embedded in it. A broken key was lying next to the chain, suggesting it had once locked the door.

Vaati sneered. "Any dungeon is easy for me." He flipped the boomerang up in the air.

"Will you stop thinking about how great you are and start noticing that there's something unusual about this dungeon?" Link looked around the room that they now found themselves in. There were three doors leading from the center platform; one to the left, one to the right, and one directly in front of them. An ornate blue chest was sitting in the middle of the platform below some odd jars that were hanging by something white and sticky. Link approached the treasure chest, ducking under the hanging jars. "It's empty!" he exclaimed, tapping the chest's lid that hung loosely on its hinges.

Suddenly, Link noticed that Vaati hadn't followed him to the platform and was watching him smugly from a distance. The blond didn't entirely like the way the mage was smiling at him. "Uhm… Vaati?"

" _Hiskreeeeeeee!_ "

A loud screech made Link quickly pivot around, landing him face to face with an eight-legged menace that clearly wanted to eat him. It was an enormous spider almost as large as a grown man, with a pattern on its back that resembled a human skull.

"Yaaaah!" Just as the venom tipped jaws of the giant spider reached Link, he let out a flurry of sword slashes until the screeching spider was reduced into a twitching mass.

Vaati appeared next to Link with a scornful look of disappointment. He frowned at the mess that had once been a living thing. "Overreact much?"

Link's breath came out in short gasps. "I…  _hate_ spiders."

"Clearly." Vaati poked the dead creature. "It was just a Skulltula. Nayru, I can't even recognize this thing anymore."

"If you're such a monster expert I want you to warn me about a monster instead of just giving me a cheeky grin," Link said disdainfully.

The sorcerer's face flashed a momentary toxic rage, but it quickly simmered into an equally worrisome fake smile. Graciously ignoring Link's comment, he put his sandaled foot on the empty treasure chest and kicked the lid shut. "I have a hunch that 'future you' may have raided this place before us." Eyeing the room, a green melon-sized insect scurrying through the shadows caught his interest. A positively evil smirk appeared on the sorcerer's face. "Say, you want me to share what I know about these monsters?"

Link eyed Vaati suspiciously. He was sure the wind mage was planning something unpleasant. He gave one cautious nod.

Vaati grinned smoothly. "Good, because there's a Rupee Beetle over there in the corner," he pointed at the little green bug that was scuttling across the leaves, "and if you hit it with your sword it'll release rupees. We could use some money."

"Hold on, I don't like the way you're being so helpful all of a sudden."

The mage shoved Link off of the platform, kicking him over to the bug. "All you have to do is listen to what I say. Now go and do your work." Link didn't even have time to complain. The monster insect had noticed him and was closing in quickly for a bite. Link pushed it away with his boot and was surprised when the bug huddled into a ball and started to flash red.

It was terrifyingly similar to the way a bomb might glow.

"Vaati! You traito-"

_Kaboom!_

The smoke cleared from the explosion, and Vaati poked his head up from behind the empty chest. He glowered. "Ugh, why are you still alive?"

Link seethed as he wiped grime and dust off of his face. His shield had protected him from most of the damage. "You're an idiot." No doubt this was Vaati's payback for having his self-dignity stepped on earlier. Coughing, Link growled at Vaati. "I thought we were working together. You won't accomplish anything by trying to get revenge every time I insult you."

"But I get one hell of a sense of satisfaction."

"Do you actually understand what would happen to you if you end up killing me?"

Vaati jumped down from the platform and approached the door by the left corner. "I'll get one hell of a sense of satisfaction."

Link sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You need my help to get out of this mess."

Vaati threw an ugly look. "I guess," he pushed open the door and walked through, "but that doesn't mean I can't make it difficult for you, boy."

"Maybe I shouldn't have brought you with me…"

Link and Vaati made quick progress through the temple, encountering very little puzzles to slow them. Moving from one chamber to the next, they finally found themselves outside the great tree in open air. Two bridge segments stood parallel to each other, hovering in the middle of a large chasm and leading nowhere. Beyond them was a door.

"Who came up with the building plans for this?" Link wondered, looking at the large gaps between the 'bridges.' "How do they expect us to get across?"

Vaati squinted as he tried to get a better look at the segments. There was a small fan propped on the middle of each one. "Stand back. I know what to do." He threw the Gale Boomerang towards each fan. With a strained creaking of aged wood, the two bridge segments slowly turned and connected, creating a walk-able path.

They quickly crossed the bridge. On his way across, Link observed more doors and rotating bridges in the distance. He tapped Vaati on the shoulder.

Vaati jumped and gave him a glare. "Don't touch me."

"How do you know we're supposed to be going this way?" Link thumbed the other doors. The sorcerer took a cursory glance, and then turned his back on them to face the door they were making for. His eyebrows scrunched together in concentration.

"I sense some trace magic from behind these doors. This binding curse isn't helping me determine what it's from, but it's worth looking into." Vaati moved through the door and into another large tree. The next chamber contained more rotating bridges over an extremely deep pit. Vaati threw the boomerang again and caused the segments to rotate, making the bridges connect.

Link peered over the edge of the bridge. A faint, pungent smell hit his nose. He let his eyes adjust to the darkness, and noticed that a pool of purple-green ooze had created a thin layer of sludge at the bottom of the pit. Link rubbed his eyes when the vapor from the pool stung them.

Vaati joined Link and took a step back when he got a whiff of the acid. The sorcerer's gaze followed the wall of the chamber to where a trickle of the poison was dripping from the cracks. The next door directed them to where the poison was coming from.

"We're getting close."


	14. Twilit Parasite Diababa

They were getting close to something awful that resided in the temple. The chamber the two time travelers were in now fumed with the trace of the volatile poison, irritating their eyes and nose. Neither Link nor Vaati really knew why they were trying to find whatever it was at the end of the dungeon, but they had a hunch that it would tell them something about the secrets of the Faron Woods.

A squeal caught Vaati's attention, and he saw a group of monkeys huddling on top of one of the giant mushrooms growing along the bark of the hollow tree they were in. They were looking towards the door at the far end of the gaping chasm in the middle of the room.

Vaati braced his boomerang, getting ready to knock them into the chasm. "I'll send them chittering down to their deaths."

"Wait," Link stopped him as one of the monkeys noticed and approached them. It had a flower hooked on its ear, and began to chatter urgently while pointing at the door at the other end of the chasm.

Where Link only heard unintelligible squealing from the monkey, Vaati could understand every word. It took all he had to keep from falling into the pit from laughing uncontrollably.

(My dear prince! You have returned! Please, you have to help us again.)

"What's so funny?" Link took a sideways glance at the sorcerer whose face was contorted from holding in a laugh.

The monkey looked at the sorcerer with distaste. (Yeah, what's funny?)

"Pfft, prince, snkkk," Vaati snickered into his fist, and then straightened himself out. "Nothing," his serious face broke into giggles again, "Mr. Prince."

"Uh… what?"

Vaati waved him away. "Never mind, never mind." He took his boomerang and shoved the monkey back. "Now why should we help you, hmm? We're busy trying to find a sword and unless there's something we'll gain from this there's no reason why we should help you."

(Jerk.) The monkey tugged at Link's tunic instead. (Please, you have to help us. That monster came back again and it's poisoning the forest.)

"We're not going to help a bunch of useless monk-"

(And I can help you with the sword afterwards. I know something about it.)

That shut Vaati up immediately. Link looked from the urgently squealing monkey to the mage who was conversing with it. Vaati regarded the panicked monkey for some time, and then came to a decision. "All right, this monkey wants some help in exchange for information about the sword."

"You can talk to monkeys," Link said slowly. Then, he shook his head. "You are crazy."

Vaati tapped his chin with the edge of his boomerang. The monkey took a step away from the sorcerer and clung to Link. "I believe in exchange only when both parties involved are on equal grounds. Since you need our help more than we need yours, I can simply wring the information out of your furry little neck instead."

The monkey squealed and ran behind Link. Link gave Vaati a warning swat with the flat end of his sword. "That's not how we do things."

Vaati scowled. "That's how  _I_  do things."

"I know, but as long as we're working together that is not how we're going to do things."

"Who made you king?" the sorcerer grumbled, but let it slide.

From the monkey's pantomiming from earlier, Link guessed that there was something behind the door across the chasm that was causing problems for the monkeys in the forest. He squatted so he would be eye-level with the grey animal. "We'll help you," he glanced at the chasm that was way too wide to cross easily, and then scratched his head, "well, after we figure out how to cross."

Without waiting another minute, the monkey jumped up and down and signaled to its friends. They all turned their heads in attention, and then filed over to one of the branches that had grown over the chasm. They began to form a monkey chain by dangling down from the branch.

The monkey with the pink flower behind its ear looked at Link gratefully with big, bulging eyes and gave him a quick kiss before joining the chain. (I knew my prince would help!)

Vaati was cracking up.

"Don't… say anything."

"First kiss?"

"If you don't stay quiet I'm going to push you down that pit."

Vaati grinned. "The monkey says you're her prince"

Link sighed tiredly. "I really don't like future me right now." He stood up, deciding he was only going to focus on reaching the other side of the room instead of let Vaati's comments get to him. He watched the monkeys swinging back and forth, and he judged the distance he would need to jump to reach the chain.

As soon as Link leaped and grabbed the bottom monkey's paws, Vaati threw in one more word.

"Careful! Your girlfriend's at the bottom!"

Link nearly lost his grip. He collapsed when he reached the other side from nearly having all of his energy drained out of him instantly. "Are you trying to  _kill me_?"

Vaati's laughter echoed around the chamber. "Idiot, that's what I've always been trying to do."

Link wearily called over to the mage. "Hurry up and come over here. I need to give you a beating or two."

Vaati stopped laughing and he uneasily scrutinized the chasm. It was relatively high from the bottom. Scratch that – it was really high. It was so high that he couldn't see the bottom of the pit, and the only thing that suggested that it wasn't bottomless was that pungent smell from the purple sludge they had seen earlier. The sorcerer appeared reluctant to jump.

"What's the matter? Afraid of heights?"

"Who do you think I am?" Vaati snarled.

"Then jump already."

The mage hesitated. He never had to deal with heights like this without levitation abilities. If he missed, nothing was going to save him from an embarrassing death. Link watched the mage walk slowly along the edge of where he stood; this was going to take a while.

"If you're not going to do it, I know another way," Link called over. Vaati's head snapped up when Link whistled and signaled the monkeys to move out of the way.

"Link, what are you planning to do?" Vaati began to feel uncomfortable. His eyes widened in horror when he saw Link take out a clawshot. "Nonononono. NO. Put that away. I'll jump, just put that away!"

Link aimed, "Too late."

 _Shing_ … latch (Argh!)… (Oof!)

The sorcerer zipped across the gap, hooked by the clawshot. When Vaati arrived, Link casually threw him to the side where the mage skidded towards the door.

Completely losing his usual cool, Vaati looked uncharacteristically shaken. "D-don't… don't do that again." He steadied himself by a large, gnarled vine. He seemed to have lost the energy to snap back with a vengeful retort. The mage had acquired a special hatred for the clawshots after his traumatic experience with them at Telma's bar, and Link using them on him was as worse as it could get. Meanwhile, Link cautiously advanced towards the final door and pressed his palm against the wood. His left hand gripped his sword tightly.

"Are you ready?"

Vaati nodded slowly and Link pushed the door open.

XXXXXXXXXX

As soon as Link and Vaati stepped into the lair they noticed that this chamber was not going to be like the previous ones. The door slammed shut on its own, and there was an ominous rustling noise behind them. Link whirled around and came face-to-face with a melon-sized, savage, toothy plant that reared to bite him.

"Whoa!"

He cut them down quickly, and the plant's head fell off, leaving behind a door covered in vines. Something wanted to keep them in, and until they defeated it they weren't going anywhere.

Vaati trod over to the edge of the large, murky cesspool and picked up a brown feather that had fallen from a bird. Looking around, its owner was nowhere to be found. There was a stinging sensation on his fingertips and he quickly dropped the feather, and upon closer inspection he noticed that its tip was slowly melting away from the purple liquid it had touched. Vaati took a step away from the pit and covered his mouth and nose with his cape when he noticed they were beginning to feel irritated. "Be careful of the fumes. It's poisonous."

"Not just the fumes," Link added. Bubbles popped on the surface of the liquid, and they grew in size until the entire pool was splashing violently. The surface exploded, and two enormous heads of a carnivorous plant shot towards Link and Vaati with their jaws held wide.

"Holy bombchus, that was close!" Link's back slammed against the wall, just barely out of reach of the jaws that clamped down to where he was only just a few moments ago. Vaati had narrowly escaped by sprawling onto the ground, letting the other head fly over him.

Snarling angrily that they had let their prey escape, the monster plants coiled their necks above the putrid pool they grew out of. The plants appeared to be mutated versions of their smaller cousin, the Deku Baba. Their eyeless viper heads were large enough to swallow Link and Vaati whole.

"Vaati, what did your monster book say about these two?" Link found his throat had dried.

Vaati was gripping his boomerang tightly, veins popping out of his hands. "It wasn't in the book."

The head to the right hissed and coiled, preparing to strike. It lashed out in a flash, snapping its open maw at Link. He barely had time to dodge its fangs, venom visibly dripping from the tips and its drool spattering over the dead grass. Link gave it a quick slash across the top of its head and was in the process of regaining his stance when he saw the second head moving in from behind. He was gratefully saved by the gust of wind that knocked the head's path away from him.

The first head, now oozing a clear liquid from where Link had slashed it, turned its attention to Vaati.

"I need you to stab the bastard when he strikes again. I can't take him out with the boomerang alone." Vaati crouched, getting ready to jump out of the way as the injured head swayed from side-to-side while finding an opening for attack. Link made a dash towards the mage when he saw the injured head howl a cry to signal an attack. Before he could reach Vaati, however, a sharp pain jolted through his leg. At the same time, Link felt himself raised several feet into the air as the second head reared back with Link caught between its teeth. He could see the dangerous view of the septic water directly below him.

Vaati cursed. He flung the boomerang towards the head with Link's leg and swerved away just as the injured head snapped past him with a growl. As the vortex disoriented the second head, it let go of Link who found himself falling towards the toxic water. Vaati managed to maneuver the spinning vortex towards Link just in time to have him drop onto safe land with a loud thud.

Vaati scowled at Link who groaned on the ground. "Why weren't you as easy to fight when I had to face you?" he berated. "Don't go easy on them."

Link pushed himself up and limped over to the sorcerer. "I'm trying, but it doesn't help that we're separated from them by a toxic pool."

The injured head moved in for another strike, this time towards Link who it saw was the easier target since he was hurt. Ignoring the pain from his leg, Link brought up his shield. The monster plant closed its jaws onto the shield, allowing Link to have a good look on its pointy teeth. Before the giant Baba plant could snap his shield in half, Link brought up his sword and plunged it through its head.

"Gggroaaaaaar!"

The head writhed and jerked as it slipped back into the pool.

Link breathed a sigh of relief. "Only one more to go."

Vaati tensed as he eyed the remaining head. It appeared to have lost interest in the two of them, which struck him as odd. Just a few minutes ago it had attacked them with savage determination. Vaati noticed bubbles appearing on the surface of the still waters and figured the answer to the monster's queer behavior was going to come pretty soon. Link noticed them as well with a look of dread.

"Let me guess: the head that we supposedly killed is going to come back again."

On cue, the first head came roaring back out of the water as healthy as ever.

"See? I knew it."

Vaati was more uncertain. "I don't think it's that simple," he kept his red gaze between the two heads. There had to be a source of the poisonous liquid, and it made the most sense to conclude that the source could be found at the deepest part of the pool. The feather that he had dropped earlier by the edge of the pool had completely disappeared, swallowed by the water. This suggested that the pool was growing, and he wouldn't be surprised if something else lurked within the toxin.

Sure enough, the pool bulged upwards before it suddenly exploded, revealing a colossal monster with a three-jawed head dribbling with saliva, a bloodshot yellow eye protruding from its mouth's center. It was larger, bulkier, and more menacing than its other two heads.

Link grimaced. "… I guess it didn't like what I did to its friend."

"GGggrRRrrRRaaaAAARRR!"

Link and Vaati backed up against the wall as far as they could be from the Diababa.

"So we're up against two monster plants that can regenerate when we try to kill them, and one bigger monster plant that makes the other two look like daisies." Vaati watched the enormous center plant snap frustratingly at them, unable to reach them where they were. "At least we know we're safe where we are. We have plenty of time to brainstorm."

Link began to frown when the Diababa raised its head like it was getting ready for an attack. "I'm not too sure about that!" He yelled when it began to spout a rancid purple gas. Link and Vaati ran to the other side of the room to stay as far away from it as they could, but just as they began to make a run for it one of the smaller heads found an opportunity to cut them off. It aimed for the limping Link who had inadvertently wandered into its range of reach.

Vaati looked over his shoulder and saw that Link was in trouble. "Damn it!" Whirling around, he shot out his arm and managed to grab Link's arm in time. Link stumbled forward as Vaati pulled him away, and he felt the air rush behind him. "I hope you know how much it pains me every time I save you, Link," the sorcerer said sourly. He then sneezed. The gas from the Diababa made his nose burn and hands tingle: the gas was poison.

"We have to finish this fast or we're dead," Link nodded over to the Diababa that continued to exhale its toxic gas. One of the smaller heads, meanwhile, was partly submerged, spitting out more of the liquid ooze that surrounded the monsters. It was attempting to decrease the area of safe land.

"What is it doing?" Vaati pointed at the other smaller head that had gone after Link. It was looking straight up at the ceiling and swaying from side to side. Vaati looked up as well and he felt a chill run down his back. "Oh  _hell_  no."

The plant smashed against the wall, causing several red and black baba plants to drop to the ground. A few that fell into the toxic pool writhed and disintegrated, showing Link and Vaati what would happen if they took a swim. The others flopped around for a few seconds before they reoriented themselves and slithered towards the two Hylians like serpents.

Vaati reflexively threw his boomerang towards the incoming group of Baba Serpents, also managing to hit the giant head that had decided to take another shot at chomping down on its prey.

The gust sent the giant head flying backwards, and Link and Vaati were both surprised when it blew up with a bang. The Diababa stopped spewing poison and growled when the smaller head wilted and slumped into the pool.

"What did you do?" Link exclaimed as he fended off the Baba Serpents with his sword. A light bulb appeared to go off in Vaati's head.

"Bomblings!"

"You mean one of your so-called 'Rupee Beetles?'" Link shot.

Vaati aimed his boomerang towards another small, green beetle that was scuttling along the wall. "Let's try something…"

The Gale Boomerang whooshed towards its target, and it swirled the bombling into its vortex. Then, it curved towards the remaining smaller head that snarled up to meet it.

_Kaboom!_

"It works!" Vaati snatched the boomerang that returned to him without a scratch. Now the Diababa was the only one remaining. Vaati stuck out a demanding hand to Link. "Quick, I need bombs."

"What?" Link looked at him like he was crazy. "Don't you remember what I thought about giving you bombs?"

"If I wanted you to die now I would've already fed you to that thing," Vaati snapped. "Now hand them over before I decide to turn you into explosive bait. The other two won't stay dead for long."

Link watched uneasily as Vaati placed a bomb on the boomerang and lit its fuse. "This looks reckless."

Vaati took aim at the Diababa. "I prefer 'self-assured.'"

He hurled the boomerang towards the monster as the Diababa prepared to attack. It struck the monster at the base of its neck, sending it reeling from the explosion. Howling in pain, it toppled onto the land with a loud " _Whump."_

"Go! Finish it off!" Vaati pushed Link over to the monster. Link raised his sword above his head and brought it down onto the beast's eye. The Diababa gave an earsplitting wail, writhing to free itself from the blade that had its eye pinned. It finally crumbled off, and the eyeless monster raised its head with a screech. Link and Vaati backed away as the Diababa began to shrivel up.

Once they were sure it was dead, they made a mad dash back to the door. Wheezing, Link fell to the ground, shaking as he gripped his leg that had been bitten: he'd been ignoring the pain but now it was too much. Vaati hacked away at the vines that had grown over the door and tried to pull it open.

"Come on, you stupid door…" he coughed. The door opened, letting in a welcoming fresh air. They desperately needed clean air to escape the poison gas that the monster had belched out. Now that adrenaline was leaving his system, Vaati was becoming acutely aware of the throbbing pain in his head and the numbness of his legs – he hoped they hadn't breathed in too much of the miasma. He stumbled out the door, and then remembered that he had one more person he needed to account for. Frowning momentarily, he growled and went back inside the chamber for Link. Link was curled over, nearly squeezing the life out of his injured leg. Vaati unceremoniously dragged him across the ground and heaved him outside, and the two collapsed in exhaustion.

"Note to self: enlist poisonous creatures for hero extermination," Vaati muttered, gasping for breath.

"Note to self: bring face mask and lots of antidotes when up against Vaati."

Link groaned when the burning sensation along his leg increased. "I think I'm poisoned."

"If you can still talk you're fine," Vaati snapped, trying not to sound concerned. His face betrayed him with a hint of worry, however. "You better not die on me – I need you to get rid of Ganondorf. Otherwise I'd kill you myself."

Link squeezed his eyes shut. "It's hot. I can't… I can't think straight. I need to get ba-Bark bark!  _Whine!_ "

Vaati's head swung around. The last few phrases out of Link's mouth were definitely  _not_  in Hylian. He found out why when he saw the large, furry mug of a wolf instead of the familiar hated face of Link he had become tired of seeing. Just like Link's tunic, the large, heavyset wolf was forest green in color and had bright blue eyes. Link's shield and sword were strapped to its back.

The wolf stood up, confused, when the pain it had been suffering earlier had gone. It became even more confused when it noticed it couldn't stand up on two legs. The wolf gave a little yelp when it saw paws where there should've been hands.

"Ggggrrrufff!" (I'm a wolf!) It turned to Vaati as though it were asking him for an explanation.

Not knowing how else to react to this unexpected and strange event, Vaati decided on his default, sneering grin. "Well, this is certainly unexpected. I hope you make a good pet, boy."

" _Snarl_." (Watch it, mage.) The fur along the wolf's back stood up as it angrily growled at the mage. Teeth bared, it would have made any normal person run away fearfully. Vaati, however, was used to dealing with things with big, pointy teeth. He glared back with his voice firm.

"Bad boy! Stand down! SIT!"

Link involuntarily sat down at the command.

Vaati blinked.  _Wow, that actually worked._ He grinned as a thousand possibilities occurred to him. "Growling at your master. I'll need to teach you a lesson if you do that again."

Wolf Link tilted his head, puzzled, and then recommenced snarling when he realized what he had been made to do.

"GRRRR."

Vaati stooped to pick up a branch and waved it in front of Link. "Here, idiot, fetch!"

"Arf arf!" Link bounded towards the stick, wagging his tail. He stopped abruptly and flattened his ears when he heard the mage roaring with laughter. Link never felt so humiliated.

"Good boy! I'll give you a biscuit when we get back," Vaati snickered. He brushed himself off. "That monkey better tell us where that sword is." He glanced over his shoulder at the wolf who was staring at its paws glumly, its tail between its legs. Link occasionally rubbed his wolfy snout, still in disbelief at what had happened. He looked so pitiful. "You know, I think I prefer you this way," Vaati chuckled nastily.

The wolf bared its teeth angrily. "Ggrrrruff ruff!  _Snarl_."

"Oh knock it off or I'll make you go fetch again. AHAHAHAHA!"

XXXXXXXXXXX

Argorok sniffed. Then, it suddenly swung around towards Faron Woods with a determined roar. Just moments before he had sensed the great collection of Force of Diababa disappear from existence. There was only one person the great dragon could think of who could do such a thing to the monstrous plant of the Forest Temple.

Argorok flapped his wings more forcefully, gaining speed as he hurtled towards the Faron district where Diababa's presence had disappeared. The dragon breathed fire to let the rising hot air bring him upwards, allowing him dive back down and have gravity increase his speed. Before long, Argorok was in Ordona Province: it would only be a few minutes for him to enter Faron Province.

"Pesssst, you won't esssscape me."


	15. Argorok versus the Blue Eyed Beast

Apparently Vaati really  _had_  been able to understand the monkeys, and now that he was a wolf Link could too. The monkey with the flower squeaked over towards the two and began to chatter in excitement. The green wolf wished he'd never gained his new abilities when the monkey started talking.

(You did it! We are forever in your debt, but where is my dear prince? I saw him go through that door to slay the monster but he hasn't returned.)

Link stiffened, and he kept his temper in check when Vaati began to snicker. Link growled. (There was an accident…)

The monkey stared at him in astonishment, and then began to wail. (Oh, how unkind are the goddesses! I have seen the blue-eyed wolf around these woods but I have never known he was my prince until now.)

Link took a step back, hanging his head nervously. He began to resent how his future self had been so popular among females of all ages and species. Back in his time, only Hylian girls his age had ever looked at him. Not middle-aged women, not monkeys for crying out loud.  _What had future me been thinking_?

The monkey continued her rant, unaware of Link's very visible discomfort as he flattened his ears. (Wolves, monkeys, we are eternal enemies. My family will never accept our love, but you have returned to me once more! It must be a sign that we were meant to be together!)

"Forbidden love? How utterly romantic."

"Grrrrr,  _snarl!_ " (Vaati,  _shut up!_ )

Link was annoyed and highly disturbed. He bared his teeth angrily. (I don't want to be with you! Get rid of your fancies!)

In the animal world, baring your fangs was the equivalent of drawing a sword. In retrospect, Link realized he may have overreacted. The monkey's eyes widened and she burst into tears.

Vaati looked from the snarling wolf to the hysterical ape. "You're not a very good gentleman, are you?" He chuckled when Link snapped at him. "I was kind to every one of my hobbies, oh excuse me,  _women_  I kidnapped I'll have you know." He laughed. "Of course, I kept them bound immobilized when they started to scream. It became boring after a while."

"Rrruff." (Yeah, I can see you were the perfect gentleman, you villain.) Rolling his eyes, Link growled at the monkey. (Look, it's just that monkeys should be with other monkeys okay? Now,) he straightened himself up, in a hurry to change the subject, (I heard from Vaati that you said you knew something about the Master Sword?)

The monkey rubbed her teary eyes and sniffed. (I know… I know it was all just wishful thinking that was never meant to be. When you first saved me I thought it was destiny, but then you hardly ever came back as though you'd forgotten about me.)

Vaati nudged Link roughly, a wide grin on his face. "You rascal. I misjudged you; you're a heartbreaker too."

(Unrequited love; is there anything more devastating?)

The sorcerer stepped forward, arms spread wide. "Of course! Woe is me when so many lavish ladies want me but there's only one of me to share."

Link glared at Vaati. Clearly the sorcerer was having a little too much fun.

"I tried to soothe the hearts of many a fine maiden, but then they were afflicted with jealousy. What could I do but to trap them in dungeons where they would never see each other?"

(…Dungeons?)

"Unfortunately the goddesses could not recognize my noble desires. Oh the tragedy," he ended dramatically.

(… I don't think that's how the story went.) Link growled flatly. He turned towards the monkey. (Anyways, the sword?)

The monkey stopped rubbing her eyes, finally getting over herself. (It's probably in the forest maze just outside the entrance of the Forest Temple. I have heard some of the humans refer to it as the Sacred Grove.) She glanced at the wolf with one last hopeful stare. (If I take you there, will you -)

(Forget it,) the wolf snarled. She looked disappointed, but seemed to understand.

(All right. I'm sorry. Follow me.)

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The three made it out of the Forest Temple with the monkey taking the lead. They were halfway across the bridge-like pathway that the enormous tree branches had created for them when Link smelled something worrisome with his new wolf nose. He stopped abruptly, scratching his nose with his paws: he didn't like the way he could smell  _everything_  with his sensitive nose. Vaati stopped and arched his eyebrows questioningly. He then frowned when he noticed the wolf's fur begin to stand up on its ends.

Link bared his teeth. (I smell smoke.)

The monkey scampered back to where Link and Vaati were standing tense and alert. (What's wrong?) Then, she also stopped with her eyes widening fearfully. The monkey curled her shoulders in fright and huddled closer to Link and Vaati while looking past the forest trees for… something.

The three flinched when there was a bright orange glow from a jet of powerful flames above the trees accompanied by a menacing roar. The trees swayed when a black shadow zipped after the flames.

Vaati brought out his boomerang. "I hope you know how to fight the way you are now."

"Whine…" (Me too. I miss my sword…)

Without warning, the bridge they were on shook as something enormous collided with the branches above them and pummeled towards the ground where they were standing. None of them had time to react as the gigantic armored dragon screeched and extended its talons towards them. The last thing Link saw before being knocked against the edge of the natural bridge was Argorok's black armor gleaming past him. There was a high-pitched wail.

"Blast it, it got the monkey!"

Link shook his head, disoriented from the impact. He pulled himself up, and then saw that there was an empty spot of splintered wood where the dragon had dug its claws in to capture the monkey. (No!) Straining his ears, he heard the sound of thudding wings heading towards Hyrule fields. Link sprinted towards the way out of the woods as fast as he could go. He paid no attention to Vaati's calls.

"Hey wait! You dumb mutt, I can't run as fast as you!"

(Then run faster!)

Link panted, his powerful legs propelling him quickly towards the direction the dragon had flown off to. He was thankful that being a wolf enabled him with a few useful perks such as being able to track things with his nose and being faster and stronger than his Hylian self.  _Minus the obvious disadvantages, I can get used to this…_

He rounded the corner where he passed his future self's house and thundered across the bridge that led him to Hyrule Southern Fields. He could hear the dragon's angry roar and could tell that he was gaining on them.  _Now the problem is,_ he thought with some worry _, how do I fight that thing in this body?_

XXXXXXXXXX

Argorok clicked his teeth triumphantly and blasted a jet of flame as he flew off with his prize. The hero had been so easy to pluck off the ground, and now he was going to bring the troublemaker to Lord Ganon. Oh how happy the dark king would be when he had the hero before him in mercy, and from what the dragon sensed the hero didn't even have any weapons on him! Argorok wheezed a chuckle; smoke curling around his teeth. This was going so smoothly. The dragon gave a low growl and shook his head irritably from the panicked din that came from between his talons. Now if only the hero would stop that awful screeching it would be the perfect flight back to Hyrule Castle.

"Ssssilence before I crush your bonessss," Argorok demanded. To demonstrate he wasn't joking, the dragon gave a warning squeeze and his prey immediately fell silent in fright. The dragon careened over Ordon village and approached the treeline: he had reached Hyrule Fields. Once across the vast plain he would reach Hyrule Castle and would be done with his assignment.

"I wonder who the otherssss were that were with you," Argorok thought aloud as he stopped flapping his wings to glide. He turned his attention back to the woods to check the Force signatures of the two others who had been with the hero: he might be asked by Lord Ganon to kill them later as well. He'd been in a rush to capture the hero in surprise that he hadn't paid a good deal of attention to the other two.

The dragon suddenly twisted upwards and gave a powerful flap, stopping abruptly in midair. "What trickery issss thissss?"

There was no way. He was sensing the Force signature of the hero rushing towards Hyrule Fields determinedly. Did that mean there were  _two_  of them this time? But no two Force signatures were ever the same: every living thing had their own unique register. A collected rage began to bubble up in his chest and the dragon slowly twisted his neck towards his talons. An involuntary hiss escaped his teeth when he saw that it wasn't the hero he had caught, but a terrified monkey. "Why… you…" the dragon was shaking in fury, its metal plates grating against each other. With a savage roar, Argorok flew fiercely towards the hero who he could sense was coming to meet him.

He gripped the monkey tightly – no doubt this was what the hero had come for. The dragon had made a mistake in his hurry, but it was just as well considering his prey actually wanted to confront him.

"Thissss time I will get you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Link was hurtling through the grass when he saw a dark shadow approaching him with frightening speed. The dragon had noticed the wolf and from the heated thunder of its roar, it was obvious that it wasn't in a good mood. Link dug his paws into the dirt to stop himself, and his blue eyes widened when he saw the towering dragon diving towards him.

With a yelp, the wolf retreated the other way. A hero he may be, a wolf was no match against a flying, fire-breathing, armored beast.  _If only I had my sword – even a bow would be good!_

Link's ears picked up the screech of a monkey, making him turn his head over his shoulder. Argorok had flung the monkey to the side and now had his talons extended towards the running wolf. The dragon was gaining on him fast.

Link swerved to his right just as the monster burst past him, dirt flying in all directions as its claws raked the earth. He then quickly ducked under Argorok's passing tail and began to run back the other way again.

"Sssstop running like a coward and facccce me!"

Link narrowed his eyes.  _So it's only interested in me?_  He saw the monkey tottering towards him. Link grit his teeth and howled as loud as he could. (Stay back! It's me it's after!)

The monkey stopped in her tracks. (But-)

" _Rroooaaar!"_  A wall of fire erupted between the wolf and the monkey, and the grass crackled as it went up in flames.

(Find Vaati and tell him where I am!)

Link strained to hear an answer, and when he got none, he determined that the monkey had left for the woods. At least he hoped so – there was no way to tell because of the raging fire.

"Yip!"

Link jumped when Argorok circled back and unleashed another tongue of fire just next to him. The dragon hadn't aimed for Link; rather he had aimed the blast just next to him.  _It means to trap me,_  Link thought wildly as the fire began to form something that resembled a ring around him. He remembered the river that ran through Hyrule Fields and began to run in the direction where he could smell water.  _The river! It can hold off the wall of fire._

The dragon was faster, however, and cut across in front of him to complete the trap. With a final blinding flare, the ring became complete. Link had nowhere to run within the confines of the flames. Argorok landed inside the ring with him, making the ground shake with his weight. The light of the flickering fire cast ominous shadows across Argorok's armor. The dragon's neck swayed from side-to-side, scrutinizing the wolf.

"A ssssurprise to ssssee you in that sssstate, hero," it tilted its head. "A clever disguisssse; you managed to fool me."

(It's not a disguise,) Link snapped, somewhat annoyed that the dragon had mistaken him for a monkey. He instinctively bared his fangs when the dragon took a step closer. Argorok gave one of his wheezing chuckles that sent smoke in the air when he saw the wolf snarling at him.

"No, no. When you want to sssscare ssssomething you go like  _thissss_." Argorok bared his teeth in kind, shooting fire between them as he snaked his great head forward, growling. Link stopped snarling. The dragon's fangs were as big as his head and much, much more intimidating than his own. Link hurriedly dashed underneath the dragon and behind its wings just as Argorok clamped its jaws shut where he had been. The dragon swung around, and Link ducked in time when its tail swung over his head.

With a desperate growl, the wolf leaped towards the dragon's tail and bit down onto it as hard as he could. Link winced when his teeth hit metal. He was forced to let go when he suddenly felt himself accelerate towards the ground with the dragon slamming its tail into the ground.

He wasn't quick enough to get away from the monster's next attack, and the sharp claws lining Argorok's wings pounded against his side; Link howled as he was sent flopping along the ground like a wet rag. Before he could get up, huge talons drove him into the dirt and pinned him down.

Things were not looking good for Link today.

"Give up."

Link struggled to wriggle out of the dragon's grip, becoming more feral as he let his natural reactions take control. The dragon hissed in warning, pressing more weight against its captive. Link bit at the claws for a few more minutes before he was forced to give up with Argorok nearly squashing him into the ground. The wolf panted heavily, his consciousness breaking. Was there nothing else he could do?

"I swear, if you're this weak maybe I should just let you die and find someone better to take advantage of."

Link's eyes shot open. That eternally irritated voice:  _Vaati!_

"Hissss." Argorok raised his wings and twisted his neck behind him. Part of the ring of fire had broken, and standing in the gap between the flames was the notorious sorcerer twirling his boomerang between his fingers. The dragon turned slowly to face the newcomer while dragging Link mercilessly along the ground. "How did you passss the fire?" The tip of Argorok's tail twitched.

Vaati sniffed. "A strong enough gust can snuff out any fire."

"Gusssst?" the dragon brought its eyeless head closer, spitting small flames that licked the side of its face. It hesitated abruptly when something caught its attention, and its neck recoiled. "Who issss the one foolish enough to interrupt me?" it demanded with a guttural growl.

It was a small gesture, but Vaati had noticed the dragon back off a little. Smirking, the sorcerer whipped his cape behind him. "I am Vaati, the Sorcerer of Winds." His eyes narrowed menacingly. "Remember this, and remember it well."

The dragon slowly raised its head as though it was surprised, and then it began to curl its neck back as though it was nervous about something.

Had Argorok not shown that split-second hesitation, Vaati was sure he wouldn't have been able to proceed as confidently as he had. In all honesty when he had seen Argorok pummeling Link within the circle of fire, Vaati had been ready to accept the fact that they weren't going to be able to defeat it. It was one gigantic, powerful, armored, fire-spitting dragon against one confused wolf and one ex-sorcerer with a boomerang: why would they ever stand a chance?

But he had seen it. The dragon was afraid. Afraid of  _him_. It felt so amazingly wonderful to have someone actually scared of him that Vaati almost forgot that he couldn't use magic.

"The Ssssorcerer of Windssss! I don't believe it!" the dragon hunched over, taking a step away.

"You've heard of me, have you?" Vaati prompted, grinning triumphantly.  _Finally! Someone who knows the important things._

"Almosssst an equal with the King of Darknessss… you can't be."

"Not  _almost_  an equal, you fool – I'm  _greater than_  that idiot!" the sorcerer snapped. "Get your facts straight."

"The ruler of the sssskies hassss returned? The masssster of wind, the mosssst powerful ssssorcerer to have ever exissssted…"

"Now that's more like it."

The dragon swished his tail nervously. "I sssstill can't believe it, but the powerful Force regisssster I ssssense… it hassss to be true." Argorok hissed, showing its rows of sharp teeth. "What issss your purposssse here? Are you a friend or," it started growling, "foe?"

 _I have to be careful_ , Vaati thought, not liking the huge thing with huge teeth growling at him.

The only thing he had going for him was the fact that the dragon thought he could use magic. If the monster found out that Vaati was about as powerful as the average person, he and Link were both done for.

He saw the wolf staring at him with an earnest gaze.  _I know, I know! I can't let it find out the truth or have it try to fight me,_ the mage returned with a stern look.

Vaati eyed the dragon, trying to hide the fact that he was making every effort to keep his legs from wobbling from under him.  _Let's think this through,_ he thought to himself.  _The dragon was afraid of me, but now it looks like it's ready to chomp my head off. Does that mean it'll end up fighting me anyway?_

There was only one way to find out. The sorcerer mentally took a deep breath and stepped as fearlessly as he could towards Argorok. The dragon hitched backwards and its growls became louder.

The sorcerer relaxed a little.  _No, it's just afraid it's no match for me. It's like a cornered animal – the frightened ones are the most terrifying kind._ Vaati smiled a little. They were both trying to bluff the other.  _Well now that I know that…_

"Neither," Vaati stated simply. "I'm not interested in your business. I'm interested in that wolf you have over there."

The growling lessened. "You want him?" Argorok sounded reluctant, but a little relieved that the sorcerer hadn't declared he planned to fight.

"Hand him over, and we can part ways quietly."

"That issss  _impossssible!_ " The dragon roared, spitting fire into the air. Argorok's sudden outburst made Vaati jump a little, and he immediately regretted it when the dragon appeared to sense his nervousness. Argorok's talon crashed towards the sorcerer with more confidence.

If the dragon caught on to Vaati's act it was over. He had to keep the pressure on before Argorok could call his bluff.

"Ganondorf will punish you for not returning with Link," Vaati declared, "but if you don't hand him over to me  _NOW_  then you won't even have the chance to report your failure!" He was grasping at straws now, praying the dragon wouldn't realize just how powerless they were against it. Argorok wavered, and Vaati rode on his momentum to continued as menacingly as he could. Mustering all of the arrogance he could summon, the sorcerer threw his boomerang into the air to summon the biggest vortex he could whip up around him. Any dramatic effect that could help was appreciated.

"Do you really want to find out how much nicer that Gerudo is compared to me?"

It worked. Argorok scrambled back from Vaati's sudden outburst, hissing and screeching while backpedaling towards the fire. In doing so, Link managed to escape its talons and the wolf shot away as fast as he could.

Vaati had won. "Answer me!" he shouted after the dragon that had taken to the skies, howling in defeat.

The sorcerer watched the dragon retreat, and he felt a small drop of sweat roll down his nose. He blamed it on the heat from the fire: it wasn't from the cold sweat of nervousness, nope.

Without another word, Vaati walked out of the ring of fire while Link trotted after him. The sorcerer collapsed onto the grass and stared blankly at the sky once he was safely away from the flames that continued to crackle. He hardly glanced at Link.

"I love my reputation," he muttered hoarsely.

The wolf sat down next to him. (That was… pretty impressive.)

Vaati snorted.

(I thought we were done for,) Link looked away, (thanks.)

"Heh. So much for your earlier claims that you'll have to save  _me_ , hmm?"

The sorcerer stared at the sky for a few more minutes, and then rolled over to stand back up. Brushing himself off, he started walking back towards Ordon. "Come on, let's go find that sword of yours. I don't like the way that dragon was able to find us so easily, and I won't be able to use the same strategy again."

(Right… the sword.) Link sighed miserably. In the last two fights, he hadn't been very useful; it crushed his morale to have the powerless Vaati be better than him. (How can it be of any use to us now? Look at me; does it look like I'll be able to hold it?)

"Listen, you idiot," Vaati growled. "We have two options. We can quietly wait for that dragon to come back, or we can at least pretend we're doing something worthwhile before that dragon comes back." He turned on his heel.

The wolf turned his head where the dragon had gone. The sun was beginning to set and the fire was beginning to go out, leaving behind a black, charred patch. Ganondorf was somewhere in that direction, and with him was Zelda. Link flattened his ears. Wordlessly, he ran ahead of Vaati.

There were times he felt defeated from the enormity of the situation.

Now wasn't the time for that.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 _I have to let Lord Ganon know!_  Argorok hurried away from where he had encountered Vaati as fast as his wings could carry him. There was no way he could stand up to someone who had the power to control the winds as he wished. Picking a fight against Vaati was like picking a fight with Ganondorf: it could only end in pain. Based on the rumors of the long forgotten past, it was a miracle he had been spared without a scratch.

Maybe the sorcerer was feeling merciful?

The dragon bared his teeth in a silent snarl. No, Vaati needed him alive to pass the message to the Dark King. That was the only logical reason he could think of – why else would the Sorcerer of Winds, rumored to have been just as vile as the Dark King himself, let him go like that after he had foolishly threatened him?

_The Wind Mage…_

Argorok dived through the air.

_The Wind Mage hassss returned!_


	16. Cucconapping

Vaati led Link back towards Ordan and in front of the future Link's house outside of the village where the monkey was waiting for them. As soon as she saw them returning, the monkey ran a circle around them and jumped up and down in relief. (Oh my goddesses, you're all right!)

"Of course we are. Ganondork will have to do better than that if he wants to get rid of me."

Even though he was a wolf, Link managed to give the wind mage a long look. (Because we definitely didn't have issues sending the dragon away,) he growled scornfully. Vaati pointedly ignored him.

The monkey, meanwhile, appeared to have gotten over all of her misfortunes within the past hour and was peering at her saviors with reverence. (You guys are so amazing!)

"Yes. Yes I know." Vaati tapped his foot impatiently. "Now let's get back to the problem with the sword. Lead us there."

(Of course!) the monkey squeaked excitedly. She began to run in the direction of Faron Province again, occasionally turning back to signal for the other two to follow her. Just as Link and Vaati began jogging after the monkey, she stopped abruptly. (Uh oh.)

"Now what _?_!"

The monkey turned around. Vaati and Link were giving each other nasty glares after Link had accidentally bumped into the sorcerer when he had stopped suddenly. Chewing on her finger worriedly, the monkey fidgeted. (Well there's going to be a problem for you to cross,) she pointed at Vaati.

"And why is that?" he demanded huffily, turning his attention away from the wolf.

(There's a chasm you'll have to cross, and it's pretty wide. You'll need the help of cuccos if you want to cross.)

"Cuccos?" Vaati blinked. He put the words 'help' and 'cuccos' together, and his pride told him he didn't like the sound of that at all. The sorcerer crossed his harms over his chest while the wolf wagged his tail in amusement. "Why only me? Why doesn't he need to have cuccos help him?"

(I've seen him clear the jump before.)

"And you're saying I can't?"

The monkey considered Vaati for a while. Finally, she shook her head. (No. You can't.)

Vaati's voice was a furious hiss that rivaled Argorok's. "Why?"

Unperturbed, the monkey giggled. (You were scared to jump over the gap in the Forest Temple! This one is harder and scarier to cross: even us monkeys rarely try to jump over. If you couldn't handle the one at the temple, what makes you think you can handle this one?)

Vaati flushed, but before he could do anything, Link trotted in between them with a toothy grin. (She's right you know.)

The sorcerer's face contorted into suppressed rage, and he whipped around and stomped away. "Fine! We have to find cuccos, right?" He threw his hands up into the air. "This is so debasing. I ride Helmaroc Kings for Din's sake, not pathetic domestic birds!"

"Grrruff." (Yeah, yeah. Vaati almighty.) Link rolled his eyes.

The monkey tapped the wolf on the shoulder, shyly. Then, she pointed at the sorcerer who was currently a walking, talking volcano. (Is something wrong with him?)

(Tons.)

Link laughed at the wide-eyed look of disbelief the monkey had on her face.

(Don't worry about it. He's been having a miserable few days.)

(Oh. Okay then…)

XXXXXXXXXXX

Princess Zelda hung limply in the corner of the throne room of Hyrule Castle where she had been chained as a prisoner. A few paces away, Ganondorf sat proudly on the throne with the possessed Opal standing next to him in blank attention. Zelda kept her gaze directed towards the ground expressionlessly, acknowledging that currently she could do nothing but wait for a chance to escape.

The princess had pieced together some parts of what had happened after the powerful man and his new pawn had stormed the castle. It had all started a few hours after the castle soldiers had been sent off to search for Vaati and Opal: her appearance had changed completely into someone a little older, and most notably everyone in the castle had been replaced with people she didn't know.

It had all been a blur of confusion. Unrecognizable ministers knocked on her door to look over new amendments to laws she'd never knew Hyrule had, maids who claimed to know her shuttled her to daily duties that she wasn't familiar with, and castle guards wandered around in an uncharacteristically carefree way. Before Zelda had been able to get used to the puzzling change of the castle, Ganondorf had appeared and had murderously left a bloody trail to the throne room to confront her. The more fortunate ones of the castle had vanished without a trace at the hands of the possessed monster by his side.

It had all come together when the princess saw Opal standing next to Ganondorf. There had been speculation that the type of warping specialized by the Render as well as a few minor monsters like Floor Masters could be used for time travel. Of course no one had been suicidal enough to see if this could be done, because the consequence of mistake was nonexistence.

Ganondorf had done it. He'd figured out that he wouldn't have to worry about any consequences because he had a piece of the Triforce; a timeless power that was protected against temporal distortion.

A commotion in the throne room made Zelda slowly glance up to see what was going on. A shimmering, pale blue light had appeared in the middle of the room, and upon closer inspection she could see the faint outline of a lantern. It hovered back and forth, and it was difficult to see the creature that was holding it.

It was a poe.

"Lord Ganon, Master Argorok has arrived and has news to share."

The dark king's lips curled into a vile sneer. "It had better be good news. Where is he?"

"He's by the cliffs nearest to the castle in the southern fields and awaiting orders."

The poe disappeared and Ganondorf snapped his fingers at Opal. "Get him over here now."

The possessed girl bowed and disappeared as she warped away. A few seconds later, there was a loud crash as she reappeared with the armored dragon. Argorok spit sparks in surprise from suddenly finding himself inside Hyrule castle, and then immediately snapped to attention when he noticed Ganondorf staring at him coldly.

"You came empty handed?" Ganondorf asked, no longer smiling.

Argorok bobbed his neck earnestly, and Zelda watched with interest at the powerful looking dragon coiling away fearfully in front of the Gerudo. "I bring dreadful newssss, Lord Ganon." He paused when he sensed Ganondorf's increasing disapproval, and then repeated fervently, "dreadful newssss."

Zelda brought her head up hopefully. Whatever was bad for them had to be good news for her.  _Maybe it's Link?_

"Out with it," the dark king demanded roughly. "And stop fidgeting. You're going to wreck this place," he tilted his chin towards Argorok's swishing tail that was threatening to knock down a few pillars and decorative armor.

"Er… yessss. Well, I ran into the mosssst unexpected persssson while I was looking for the hero." Argorok puffed smoke in agitation. "The Ssssorcerer of Windssss issss here, and he'ssss working with the hero!"

There was a heavy silence at the dragon's declaration, and Argorok tried his best to sit still under the quiet stares. Chains rattled as Zelda stirred.

 _Vaati… is working with Link?_ She frowned at the thought. She couldn't imagine those two cooperating, and especially Vaati. From what she had learned under being prisoner of that awful sorcerer, she knew that the wind mage, with all of his arrogance, wasn't the type to team up with an old enemy. Then, she remembered that Vaati couldn't use any of his magic because of the binding curse.  _Oh I get it. They're working together because they have to._

Ganondorf stood up from the throne and Opal stepped aside to let him pass. "You met the wind mage?"

Argorok lowered his head weakly. "Yessss. I am no match for him. He issss truly powerful."

"Oh really?" Ganondorf stopped walking. "I thought he was a scrawny little thing you would easily be able to squash." There was a smile on his face again, but it wasn't a happy one. It was a psychotically dangerous one that made Argorok wish he were many hundreds of miles away from Hyrule.

"Lookssss can be deceiving, Lord Ganon. The Ssssorcerer of Windssss has devasssstating magic."

"Does he?" Ganondorf's words cut through the air like a dagger. "The last time I met him he was a pathetic piece of trash that couldn't summon a breeze to save his life."

Argorok blanched as the words registered.  _A pathetic piece of…_

Come to think of it, Vaati hadn't cast a single spell when the dragon had met him.

He began to feel a knot form in his stomach.

"You're not telling me a great dragon such as yourself was scared away by one harmless fool?"

"Hsssst…"

"What was that?" A vein pulsed along the man's forehead. "You didn't let Link and that sorcerer escape  _did you?_ "

"Groaaaar!" Argorok spread his wings to take off; he didn't plan on sticking around to have a taste of the dark king's wrath. Before the dragon could bust a hole in the castle ceiling, Opal twisted her wrists and warped him somewhere else. Ganondorf glared at her.

"Why did you do that _?_!"

"He was going to destroy this place," she shrugged.

Ganondorf glowered for a few minutes, and then stormed back to the throne where he sat down haughtily. He didn't say anything for a while. Finally, after he had calmed down, Ganondorf smiled maliciously. "So that little scum survived, hmmm?" he chuckled. "And traveling with Link – I'm surprised. You there!" He snapped his fingers at one of the pieces of armor that was standing by the exit. Its helmet turned with a creak. "Have the monsters mobilize around the castle. They are to do whatever they like while they wait for Link and Vaati." His eyes glinted. "Those two will be after my head."

The Darknut nodded once, and then neatly marched out the door to follow orders.

Zelda's eyes widened, and she suddenly struggled against her bonds. "No! Don't hurt the townspeople!"

Ganondorf's eyebrow arched slowly. "Yes, princess? I didn't actually order the monsters to hurt anybody." His face broke into a sneer and he cackled freely. "Unfortunately some of them might be itching to taste blood."

Zelda shook in fury and frustration. She ignored the dull pain from the chain that tugged on her wrists, and she glared at Ganondorf with unladylike hate. Ganondorf only laughed harder.

"Gahahahaha! I wonder how long it will take those two insects to get here? Don't worry, the monsters know they are to bring your little hero before me – you'll get to see him before he dies. The sorcerer, on the other hand, probably won't survive much longer." Ganondorf tapped his chin with amusement. "I'm surprised he's lasted this long."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Let me get this straight," Vaati turned back to the two animals who were watching him expectantly just outside Ordon Village. Night had fallen, and the only light they had was a campfire that crackled on the far side of the village. "I'm going to go into the village and kidnap two cuccos?"

He got a bark and a squeak in response.

Vaati pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. "And remind me why  _I_  have to do it?"

"Grrrr." (Because one, the villagers will attack a monkey or a wolf on sight and two, it's your responsibility.)

The sorcerer could only sigh. "Can we at least not call this a kidnapping?"

The monkey shrugged. (I mean, if you can convince the cuccos to follow you quietly then that would be great. Knowing them, though, I think they'll be reluctant to leave the village.)

Vaati sounded exasperated. "Yeah but… kidnapping cuccos? I used to kidnap real prizes…"

(Yeah I bet,) Link muttered under his breath. (Well since you're the expert kidnapper this should be easy, right?)

"Physically, yes. Spiritually, no."

(Then this will be a good opportunity to kill some of that arrogance of yours.)

Vaati huffed, and then made his way into the village while sticking to the shadow of the houses. His dark colored cape melded in with the darkness and he avoided getting too close to the campfire by the house across the stream that cut through the village. Vaati's progress was slow as he had trouble seeing clearly in the darkness.

After he passed the first house, he found his targets: two cuccos sleeping soundly on top of a ledge by the stream. He crossed his arms and frowned, wondering how the heck he was going to get up there.

Still cautious of the firelight, Vaati made sure that no one was in sight before he circled around the tall ledge. He moved quietly so as not to wake the two birds. Finally, he found some tough vines growing up the ledge that he figured he might be able to climb. Vaati sighed. He wasn't much of a climber, but this was the only thing he could think of.

The sorcerer gripped the vines and began to make his way up the ledge. Just as he was halfway up the rocky outcrop, the rustling leaves of the vine caught the attention of one of the cuccos. It clucked urgently, making the other one stir.

(Would you look at that! There's a stranger coming up here.)

 _Damn it_ , Vaati thought silently. He gave another heave to pull himself up along the wall.  _They better not run away._

A white head of the other bird joined the first one as four beady eyes watched the sorcerer from above. (Yikes! That startled me.) The cucco bobbed its head while clucking. (I don't like it. What kind of person shows up in this tiny village and climbs up ledges in the middle of the night?)

(A pervert.)

(Oh that makes perfect sense! Except - )

Vaati felt his blood boil.  _Stupid birds._  He tried his best to only focus on the task at had while the cuccos clucked away animatedly.

(- except I always thought most peeping toms were men, not women?)

The sorcerer almost ripped the vine he was holding onto.

(Women can peep too.)

(Do you think she wants to peep Hanch?)

(I don't know. It could be Beth - maybe she's the pedophile type?)

(Ew.)

"Oh would you two idiots knock it off _?_!"

The cuccos fluttered and hopped backwards on the ledge at Vaati's sudden, infuriated outburst. The sorcerer's red eyes glowed with horrible rage from having to tolerate the conversation for too long.

The brown bird cooed in surprise. (Whoo, that scared me. For a second I thought she was talking to us!)

The white one chittered. (Haha, that's impossible. Humans can't understand us. She's probably delusional.)

Vaati's shoulder's shook with rage. "I'm not delusional," he snarled, "nor am I peeping. And I am  _NOT_  a girl." He heaved himself up on the ledge and towered over the two birds angrily. The cuccos exchanged glances with growing worry.

(I think she's angry.)

Vaati's normally pale white face turned crimson in an instant. Before the sorcerer could snap the birds' necks in fury, the husky voice of a man stopped him.

"Who goes there in the middle of the night?"

The sorcerer glared angrily at the cowering birds, resisting the urge to kick one into the stream. He took several deep breaths to calm down, and then turned around slowly to see who it was that had found him.

A skinny, sleepy-eyed man regarded him curious suspicion. Vaati looked out of place in this tiny village, what with his flamboyant purple attire complete with a silky cape and jeweled hat. Not to mention the sorcerer had a crazed look that suggested he wanted to kill something, and was randomly standing on top of a high ledge with two of the man's cuccos cornered helplessly. The man crossed his arms impatiently.

"I'm Hanch, and I live here," he pointed at the house next to the ledge, "and those two birds belong to me."

Vaati frowned, and then shot a look at the two cuccos. "You thought I wanted to peep  _him?_ " he hissed under his breath so only the birds could hear. While the birds clucked to themselves, Vaati tried to think of a response that would make sense and allow the man to leave him alone.

"I'm just… passing through this village," the sorcerer began.

( _See? See?_! _It wasn't Hanch - he wanted to peep Beth!)_

( _A pedophile! He's a pedophile!)_

Vaati grit his teeth, clenching his fist until his nails drew blood. His voice wavered. "I lost… something. And I needed to climb up here to get a better look."

(A better look at Beth.)

Hanch frowned. "Wouldn't it be better to take a look during the day? And also, sir, why are you strangling my birds?"

"… I'm just moving them aside." With a strained expression, Vaati refrained from squeezing the birds' necks any harder. He was told he needed to bring them back alive. At the same time, it was terribly tempting to make them shut up for good.

The man appeared unconvinced. He grabbed a torch that was leaning against the door of his house and he went back inside momentarily. A few seconds later, he returned with a lit torch and he slammed his door shut, locking it safely. "I don't know who you are, but you sound more like a thief than anything. I don't take kindly to thieves."

Meanwhile, Link had crawled to the very edge of the village to see what was taking Vaati so long to bring back two cuccos. The wolf hid his head behind his paws when he saw the sorcerer standing on top of a ledge causing a commotion. Vaati appeared extremely angry, more angry than usual, and a crowd was gathering as the sleeping village woke up to see what was going on.

A skinny man was waving a torch and yelling at the sorcerer who held two cuccos by their necks.

Vaati wasn't making the situation any better by yelling back in return.

(Maybe I should've gone instead,) Link sighed heavily. The monkey appeared next to him and she watched what was going on, biting her fingers and observing nervously.

(How are we going to get him out of that mess?)

Link shook his head, puffing up the fur along his back. (Wait here,) he told the monkey. Then, he howled as loud as he could to catch the attention of the villagers gathered around the ledge Vaati was standing on.

Vaati and Hanch stopped arguing as the howl echoed through the air. Everyone strained their ears, and a few of the people gathered returned to their homes. Hanch lifted his torch in the direction he had heard the howl. "The wolf?" he whispered nervously.

The next minute was a wild commotion of yelling and screaming along with ferocious snarls thrown in. An extremely large wolf with striking blue eyes rushed into the village with its fangs bared in full. As the villagers scattered out of the way, Link stopped just below the sorcerer. Vaati was peering down his nose at him spitefully.

(Get out of here, I'll handle the villagers!) Link growled gruffly.

The wind mage jumped down, glanced contemptuously at the two birds he held in his hands, and then ran off without another word.

"Hey, he's running away with my birds!" Hanch exclaimed. The man was about to run after him, but was stopped by Link. He hesitated in the face of the beast's vicious fangs.

Link was a little sorry he had to scare the villagers away. After all, none of them had done anything wrong and anything that had happened was mostly Vaati's fault. Actually it was all Vaati's fault.

Link gave one final growl of warning before he hurriedly ran after the sorcerer. He was afraid that if he left him alone with the too birds long enough, he wouldn't return to find them alive.

The sorcerer had an absolutely terrifying expression, and Link wondered what could have happened to make him so upset.


	17. Into the Sacred Grove

High up in the sky many miles above Hyrule, a crash and a nettled roar disturbed the peace of the tranquil City in the Sky. The strange creatures that inhabited this place – things that looked like a cross between a tan cucco with a bald, humanoid head – looked up from their daily routines before they clucked back to what they had been doing. The Ooccoo saw no point in panicking about something that was probably out of their control: and most things were out of their control with their useless stubby wings and squat cucco feet.

Therefore, they refused to panic. They could do that when they were sure they were going to die, but until then it was a waste of energy.

Meanwhile, a great armored dragon surveyed its surroundings at the top of the highest tower in the city. Argorok shook his head and tried to figure out where he had been sent.  _At leasssst anywhere issss better than being with an angry Lord Ganon._

He could still hear his heart beating both from his fear of Ganondorf and his embarrassment about his mistake. Wasn't it an honest mistake that he'd made, considering Vaati had appeared so confident that he could beat him to a bloody pulp? The bluff had seemed all the more convincing especially since the dragon's "sight" relied on sensing Force signatures and the sorcerer's had been powerful. His "blind sight" had become a disadvantage in that "fight."

Argorok lay flat on the grassy platform, relaxing, when he realized that he was in the City in the Sky. He hung his neck over the edge while staring blankly at the view below. With his tongue dangling out of his mouth out of habit, he almost looked like a big, harmless puppy that had shamed its master.

That is, until he remembered the humiliation Vaati had put him through. Digging his claws into the dirt, Argorok's teeth gnashed together in a ferocious snarl. Roaring, a jet of flame blasted through the air and Argorok smashed a few pillars down in anger.

"You have a lot of nerve, ssssorcerer!" he screeched.

Argorok took to the air, torching things left and right. He was going to find that little twerp and put him in his place.

But before that, he was going to wreck things to feel better about himself.

XXXXXXXXXXX

(Vaati what are you doing? Stop that!)

The sorcerer looked up when he heard a frantic growl. "What?" He scoffed. He was sitting down on a log while staring lazily at the pair of cuccos dangling from a tree by their feet. Vaati had found some vines to wrap around their beaks to keep them quiet.

Link leaped across and snatched the vines with his teeth, freeing the immobilized birds. He pawed at the binds to loosen the vines. (We don't treat the ones who'll help us like this.)

Vaati shrugged, sneering. "You said to kidnap them. I just did what was natural in a kidnapping."

Growling, Link shook his head. He should have worded it differently and should have known Vaati was going to take advantage of it.

The sorcerer watched the cuccos flap their wings to stretch them out, and bob their heads as they shot disapproving glances at the wind mage. He grinned wickedly, making the birds take a few scrambled steps back. "We wouldn't want them escaping though, would we?"

" _Snarl_." (Would you stop that?) Link sighed and he did his best to appear as sorry as a wolf could. (Sorry you had to go through that.)

The brown cucco momentarily pulled its gaze away from Vaati and looked towards Link. It waddled over and scrutinized him. (Well I do dare say…) The bird tilted its head, and then clucked over to its companion. (Would you believe that, this is none other than our esteemed hero.)

The monkey chipped in to undo some of the damage caused by Vaati. (Exactly! He needs our help to get his friend across the chasm to the Sacred Woods.)

The white cucco glanced over the wolf's shoulder at the sorcerer. (Er, you mean the temperamental one?)

(Uh, yeah,) Link shared their skeptical looks, (the… temperamental one).

The brown one puffed out its chest. (I don't quite like that one.) It flapped its wings. (But if it's for you, sir, I'm sure both of us would do anything to help.)

(Yes, it will be an honor helping your cause, sir!) The white one waddled up next to its partner. Seeing that it was now under the protection of the legendary wolf, the little bird mustered some confidence. (I'm sure we can get your friend across –  _she_ doesn't look too heavy.)

Vaati glared, rounding on them threateningly. "Did I hear you say anything?"

Link growled in warning, stopping Vaati in his tracks. The little birds clucked to themselves like gossiping ladies.

(PMSing purple peeping - )

(Shhh!)

Before it could turn into a full out brawl between three animals against one sorcerer, the monkey waved her arms to catch their attention. ( _Wellll,_ if everyone is ready I can take you to the chasm in question?) She hesitated in the face of one angry wolf, one angry sorcerer, and two irritated cuccos. The sorcerer was the first to break the tension and he turned his heel with a huff. Link was the next to follow, and the birds came last behind the safety of the wolf. The brown one turned to the white one.

(He's still the hero's friend. We should have faith.)

(Fine, you're right. The good sir needs our help.)

(There there, dear. Just think about how famous we'll be for helping the hero.)

(Mmm, you're right. Helping the hero! Oh, I guess that'll make us heroes too.)

XXXXXXXXXX

Link and Vaati uneasily peered over the edge of the chasm. The monkey joined them as well as the two birds. Link scuffed the ground uneasily. It was a really long fall to the bottom, and the forest fog hid the way down. Several feet away, there were a few thin branches that Link thought he could  _maybe_  use to get across to the other side.

Just in case there was a better way, he decided to ask the monkey. (So, how do I get across again?)

The monkey and the two cuccos exchanged glances. They shrugged. (I saw you jump onto those branches to get across. It was pretty amazing – I wouldn't be able to do it) the monkey said in awe. Link flattened his ears. He'd been hoping he wouldn't have to jump across.

_Oh well. I guess here goes nothing…_

Link paced around, measuring the distance between him and the precarious branches.  _If my future self had done this before,_ he tried to tell himself,  _then that means I should be able to do this too, right?_

Taking a deep breath, Link made a leap towards the branch and quickly pushed off towards the gigantic tree trunk that created a platform he could land on. He barely made the jump, and his breath caught as his extended claws saved him from a deadly fall. Link swore his heart had stopped.

Once he was sure solid ground was beneath his feet, Link looked over his shoulder. (Your turn, mage!) he barked.

Vaati's noticeable frown drooped lower. He glowered at the two cuccos waiting expectantly. "If you let me fall I'm going to snap your necks in two, understood?"

(How rude. The more I listen to this fellow the less inclined I feel to help,) the white bird clucked indignantly.

The sorcerer gripped the two birds by their legs and jumped off towards the trunk where Link stood waiting. He cursed the entire way across.

(A colorful vocabulary you have,) the brown cucco mentioned flatly.

"Shut it and hurry up."

Once they were safely across, Vaati stormed onwards without waiting for Link. The two birds addressed the wolf after the angry sorcerer nearly threw them down to their deaths in anger. (You should be careful of your friend. He might kill you if you set him off.)

Link chuckled at the statement. (No kidding. I'll be careful.) He hung his head politely. (Thank you for your assistance and patience. Can I ask you to wait here for a couple of hours so you can help us across again when we get back?)

The birds turned to each other. (I'm sure Hanch won't mind,) the white bird bobbed its head.

The other one agreed. Enthusiastically, the brown cucco fluttered its wings. (We are only too proud to help you, sir!) It made itself comfortable on the ground. (Even though we do not appreciate your friend's behavior, we believe he has good reasons for his actions.)

(Yes, yes. He's with the great hero after all.)

Link marveled at the birds' optimism. (Oh.)

"You dumb mutt! Hurry up and take us to the sword."

_Wow. Good reasons? Just wow._

Link howled thanks to the monkey and the cuccos before following the purple sorcerer deeper into the woods.

XXXXXXXXX

It gradually became darker as the two pressed deeper into the forest. Link thanked his wolf senses and his keen night vision; he wondered how Vaati was doing, stumbling around in the dark.

"I can't see a damned thing. Whose idea was it to go at night?"

And yup, apparently the sorcerer was having trouble. Link's tail swished from side to side in amusement. (I can see perfectly fine.)

There was an angry exclamation as Vaati stumbled over a root. Even though he had gone into the forest first, he was now starting to fall behind from tripping over himself every few minutes. He couldn't focus enough to even grumble about Link's snide comment.

Not everything was against the sorcerer, and after some time he found the dense forest wasn't completely dark at all. The moon was up, and there was a faint white glow around the trees. Ancient trees covered in moss dripped water onto their heads, and if it weren't for the fact that he was trying to see where he was going, Vaati figured he could appreciate this place.

They continued on, climbing over decayed logs and moving under tunnels created by roots pushed above the earth long ago. Link looked back to make sure Vaati was still following him, and he realized the sorcerer had stopped.

Vaati was staring at the shimmering pool on his right. "… We're going in circles."

Link looked at him, puzzled.

"Take a look around! We've passed that pool before."

Sure enough, they were back at the shallow pool they had passed a while ago.

Vaati crossed his arms, looking at Link with a critical eye. "You're a dog now,"

"Snarl." (Watch it)

"… okay, a wolf, same thing. Don't you have special animal instincts that can lead us in the right direction?"

Link barked a "no."

"Aren't you supposed to be good at finding evil smiting swords?" When the wolf gave no reply, the mage stared at his foot that had become grimy from the dirt. Enchanted forests were difficult things to get out of if one didn't know the right turns. The Lost Woods that had held the Four Sword was rumored to have turned some unlucky Hylians into Stalfos after they became lost in the maze. Come to think of it, they may have even stumbled upon the future Lost Woods.

It's funny the kind of thoughts you have when you find yourself in trouble; the first thing that came up in Vaati's mind was the cuccos that were probably condemned to wait on them forever. He began to laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" Vaati and Link were caught in surprise by the question that had come from nowhere. They whirled around to find the owner of the voice, but no one was there.

A tinny laugh sounded from somewhere above, "Eeheehee, you look like you're lost." Link's ears barely heard a soft honk from a trumpet from somewhere up above. "Play with me to pass the time!"

There was an ominous rustling as something fell from the trees. No, not something.  _Somethings._  The wolf tensed and began to snarl. Vaati took Link's reaction as a hint that whatever was coming was going to try to hurt them. He took out his boomerang, and he narrowed his eyes at the waving, large shadows that had dropped out of the trees and surrounded them.

"Ggggrrraaar," Link leaped at one of the approaching shadows while Vaati threw his boomerang towards the others. The sorcerer got a good look at a painted grin before the large, wooden, scarecrow-like puppets collapsed by his feet. They were a lot faster than they looked.

The puppets clattered onto the ground with their demented smiles still plastered on their faces.

"Eeheehee, follow me!"

A lantern lit up near a wooden corridor and waved as though it were summoning them. It began to move deeper into the woods with a bounce as though whoever was holding it was skipping jauntily away. "Link, let's go!" The wolf didn't need to be told twice as he ran after the withdrawing light.

The two chased after the lantern through the woods, swatting down the Puppets that appeared along the way. It seemed to be leading them somewhere; the lantern never failed to wait for them when they stopped to take down the eerie floating enemies.  _Either that, or it's waiting just to summon more puppets,_ Vaati thought pessimistically.

Before long, the lantern led them into a clearing in the woods. There were the remains of a fallen stone pillar in the center with tree trunks surrounding it in a wide circle. Standing in the middle of the pillar was the lantern's holder. It had a wooden face similar to the Puppets' and a triangular, grass-woven hat was propped on its head. Like the Puppets, it seemed incapable of standing straight – its head lolled to the side.

"Skull Kid," Vaati breathed when they had caught up. The presence of the impish creature could only mean that they really _were_  in the Lost Woods.

"Eeheehee, catch me if you can!" The Skull Kid giggled and summoned more Puppets. It vanished and began to play a tune, coercing the hollow wooden things to sway after the two visitors.

Vaati hopped onto an ancient cracked pillar to gain height over the incoming shadows. "Link! Take care of the puppets! I'll teach the brat a lesson or two." Concentrating on the melody, he curled his wrist, ready to throw the Gale boomerang at the first sign of Skull Kid.  _Where are you, you twit?_

Meanwhile, Link jumped from one Puppet to the next, his muzzle contorted in a savage snarl. By now he had gotten used to the wolf's body and was tearing through the waves of Puppets quickly. All he had to do was to let his instincts take over and it was almost as easy as taking down monsters with a sword. As he knocked down the last Puppet, there was a satisfied giggle and the melody changed its tune.

Vaati used the opportunity to throw his boomerang. A gale whipped through the clearing and towards a high alcove between the ruins that encircled them – he'd found Skull Kid.

"Ow!" The odd creature fell from its perch and landed in front of a growling wolf. It's bright yellow eyes blinked, and then it snickered softly. Skull Kid blew the horn in the wolf's face, making Link jump back, startled. "Eeheehee, you guys are good." The Skull Kid twirled around in an odd dance and disappeared with a spiral of dead leaves. "Thanks for playing with me!"

Vaati walked over to where the Skull Kid had been. He kicked up the leaves with his foot in frustration as the creature's giggles echoed away. "The fool, it ran away…"

(Wait… I think it helped us.)

Link sniffed the air. A slight breeze hit his nose, and he followed it to a crack in a wall that was a part of the ruins. He padded over to the crack and poked his head through to find more ruins on the other side. Squeezing through the cracks, Link managed to wiggle his way through. Vaati frowned, and then followed wordlessly.

They stepped through a corridor of trees, at the end of which were the remains of what was once a great temple. Up the white steps of the temple, a sliver of moonlight cast a single pinpoint where a sword stood waiting for them. Link trudged towards it, careful not to make noise lest he disturb the peace. Vaati let the wolf go ahead, as he was becoming increasingly agitated by the presence from the sword. He twirled the boomerang over and over to keep himself distracted.

The sword with the dark purple hilt was what they had been looking for; the Master Sword. It sat proudly in the Pedestal of Time, and for one insane moment, Link felt the sword was sentient. He could imagine being scrutinized, gauged, and evaluated for worthiness. It was an uncomfortable feeling, especially since the source of his discomfort wasn't even from a living thing.

Link was so engrossed with the sword that it took him a few minutes to realize Vaati had stopped at the foot of the stairs. The wolf narrowed his eyes at the mage, remembering the sorcerer had played a similar trick at the Forest Temple.

Vaati shook his head. "I don't want to go near… I mean, it's nothing." Link continued to stare. The mage twirled his boomerang before muttering, "Look, it's called the Blade of Evil's Bane for a reason. I don't like it, and frankly, I don't think the sword likes me either."

As though in answer, the yellow jewel at the sword's hilt appeared to glow for a second.

Vaati turned his back on Link. "Just hurry up and grab the sword. We'll figure out what to do with your wolf appearance later." Another twirl with the boomerang. "Go on, what are you waiting for?"

Link faced the sword. He took a step towards the sword when it radiated an intense light, threatening to send him flying down the stairs. Four orbs of light appeared one by one and swirled around the sword. Link moved his head away from the blinding spheres, shielding his eyes from the glare. He didn't notice the sorcerer step back into the shadows with a mistrusting look.

" _O Hero of Twilight, one who takes the appearance of the divine beast, we are the spirits of light. You are the hero of legends, but you are not from this time…"_

"Ggrrrrowwwlll," Link dug his wolf paws into the ground as the unseen force continued to push against him. Just as he thought he wouldn't be able to continue fighting against it, the force weakened. At the same time, a soothing sense flushed over his leg where the Diababa had injured him. The hero dropped to his knees in front of the Master Sword.

" _There has been a great disturbance in this era. Take the sword and save Hyrule from darkness."_

Link brought his hands up to his face and turned them over. He moved them through his rusty blond hair and traced the contours of his smooth skin to confirm he wasn't a wolf anymore. Slowly, he dared to look up at the spirits.

They hovered over him. " _Take the sword, hero, but beware,"_

Cautiously, Link got up on his feet and gingerly pulled the sword out of its pedestal. It felt surprisingly light in his hands, but it was heavy with the burden of responsibility.

" _\- the sword does not recognize you as its rightful wielder. You must pass its test to prove yourself worthy."_

From somewhere behind him, Link heard Vaati hiss under his breath, probably upset that they were far from completing their adventure. A sinking weight grew in Link's chest.

"… What do I have to do?"


	18. The Sword's Test

"… What do I have to do?"

Link shifted his weight in the face of the four spirits of light of future Hyrule. Though he'd never heard of them before, he was sure that these beings weren't ones he would want to upset: if it shined with white, holy light and addressed you with a capital 'O' – the kind that stood out in the sentence like a birch tree in a desert - then that usually meant you were dealing with something important.

One of the spirits shimmered and took on a more visible form of a great owl.  _"There has been a disturbance in time. A creature from the past has reappeared to terrorize the denizens of the City in the Sky."_

Link decided he knew where this was going. "So, I have to save the people in the City in the Sky for the sword to accept me."

" _The sword's test does not end at the City in the Sky,"_ another spirit took on the form of a lemur-like animal.  _"You must return to the Sacred Grove for its final challenge. Only then will you wield the blade's true power."_

Link should have complained. Why was something that was supposed to be on  _his_  side giving him more challenges? And it sounded like this worth-proving challenge was going to be life threatening.  _So who's the one who wants to kill me here? Ganondorf or the Master Sword?_

The only difference was that the sword seemed to have some faith in him. Not that he knew how much faith even counted for.

As he was having these thoughts, Link immediately regretted it when he remembered the sword in question was still in his hands. He didn't think it could read his mind, but considering it was a sacred sword – and sacred things always had a few unreal tricks – there was that small chance it very well could.

The spirits began to disappear. " _Find the man by the name of Fyer. He will aid you in your quest. O Hero of Twilight, make haste. A dark presence lingers at Hyrule…"_

XXXXXXXXX

Vaati was in a foul mood. "We went through all that trouble to get a sword that needs you to pass tests, tests!" he griped, saying aloud what Link could only dare think in his head. The sorcerer threw his hands in the air, storming off into the Lost Woods. "That's what I hate about divine beings. They sit back in their cozy little temple and watch and complain as their world goes crumbling to dust. They let some numbskull like you do their dirty work."

"Vaati, that's blasphemy."

"If I cared I wouldn't have tried to take over Hyrule."

Link sighed, a little uneasy from all the things the sorcerer was saying about some of Hyrule's most powerful beings. If a bolt of lightning smote them any minute now, he wouldn't have been so surprised. "I guess that's true," he agreed cautiously. Then, he paused as a thought occurred to him. "You know," he began, making Vaati turn his head slightly, "I wouldn't be surprised if this whole mess of you losing your magic is just the goddesses' way of punishing you."

Vaati grimaced. "Shut up." It was a reasonable point. "Come on, we're going to look for this Fyer fellow."

XXXXXXXXX

The next day, Link and Vaati were somewhere in the middle of Hyrule field. Skull Kid had led them back outside the woods, and the two cuccos had kept their word and had been waiting loyally for them to help cross the chasm. There was a mild conflict between the sorcerer and the birds, probably by something the cuccos had said from the way Vaati had blown up on them. Link would've given anything to know the birds' comments – it must have been hilarious…

Vaati stood up from where he'd been lying on the grass and kicked dirt over the remains of the campfire they'd made for the night. Next to him, Link was strapping his shield on his wrist. "Ready?"

Link stretched. "Do you know where we're going? I don't know who Fyer is."

"Kind of."

Link waited for a better answer, but Vaati appeared reluctant to elaborate. Link thought about the name Fyer. It didn't sound entirely foreign to him. "Fyer… Fyer… where have I heard that name before?"

He followed after the sorcerer who was trudging towards the direction of the castle. It then occurred to him that the name had been brought up when they had arrived at Castle Town a few days ago. "I'm sure someone mentioned his name when we were at Hyrule," he tried.

"I'm sure of that," Vaati replied flatly.

Link tilted his head. No doubt the sorcerer had figured out where they had to go, but why was he being such a grouch about it?  _I mean, he's in a bad mood by default, but this is worse than usual. What's so bad about Fyer?_

"Do you know him? Fyer?"

"Shut up and follow me."

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning…" Link grumbled.

"I  _said_  shut up and follow m – "

" _Get down!"_

Link interrupted Vaati with a shove over the wind mage's head, forcing them both down behind the cover of rocks. The sorcerer was just about to snap at him in protest, but then he noticed what Link had his attention to. The hero was pointing at the castle drawbridge that was less than a mile away. Instead of the usual Hylian guards, however, there were monsters posted as sentries. Vaati narrowed his eyes, muttering under his breath.

"Ganondorf…" he hissed. "The castle should be overrun by all of his underlings by now." The two boys lowered their heads as they saw a few kargarocs circling the air above the castle, as well as dim lights of a ghostly lantern floating here and there along the moats. Vaati frowned. "Those imp poes, do you see them?"

"Yeah…" Link gave a slight nod. He squinted to get a better look at the barely flickering lanterns waving under the shadows of the trees that were around the castle walls.

"They're going to be troublesome. Those poes will warp back to their master the second they notice us. If Ganondorf learns that we're sitting outside his doorstep he'll either send something as nasty as that dragon or come greet us himself."

"Speaking of the dragon, what do you think happened to it?"

Vaati shrugged. "Oh I don't know. I reckon Ganondorf either punished it for letting us go, or it managed to run away to escape his fury for the time being. Either way, the dragon will be looking for us soon – dragons aren't the type of creatures to stay quiet after having their pride crushed."

"Then we'd better figure out a way to pass the Master Sword's test if we don't want to be cornered like last time." Link stole a glance towards the red-eyed sorcerer who was muttering something under his breath unhappily. "So where exactly are we going? Are you saying Fyer is inside those walls?" He hoped not. If monsters had overrun the castle, then it was unlikely the man would still be in a condition to be able to help them.

Vaati shook his head. "No. He's on the other side," the sorcerer said this with a little more bitterness than necessary, "by Lake Hylia."

"How do you know?"

Vaati let out an exasperated sigh. "You'd be dead if you were Ezlo's apprentice, what with your interminable questions and all."

"Who's he?"

The sorcerer only glared in response. Link backed away from the murderous glare and decided the topic of Ezlo wasn't something to talk about even if Vaati was the one to bring it up in the first place. Link changed the topic.

"Er, if we have to go to the lake, then we should follow that stream maybe?"

Vaati's expression relaxed somewhat, and he looked over to the stream that went just around the castle. He glanced several times at the poes floating around the area, and then nodded. "That would be the best idea instead of trying to go through the castle. Come on, let's go before one of those kargarocs notice us here."

Keeping their heads low, Vaati and Link jogged lightly to the stream. It wound its way around the castle away from the monsters standing guard. They followed it all the way until it led them to a high cliff where it plummeted into the lake. It was at least forty feet below to the surface, and Link dropped a pebble to count the seconds it took for it to hit the water .

"Look over there," Vaati pointed at a small, colorful shack that was floating over the lake. Even though it tried to stand out with all of its colors, the expansive lake swallowed up its efforts. The sorcerer thought it looked more like an ugly pimple on the smooth, blue surface of the water. "I think that's where we'll find Fyer."

Link craned his neck, and then a look of recognition passed over his face. He remembered what one of Hyrule's guards had said when he and Vaati had first stumbled into the future Hyrule Castle Town:

" _The markings under your eyes and your, excuse me, flamboyant attire… are you possibly employed under 'Fyer and Falbi's Watertop Land of Fantastication' at Lake Hylia?"_

The hero snapped his fingers. "Fyer! The one who runs the amusement park at Lake Hylia!" He grinned at Vaati. "You'll get along with them, I'm sure."

Vaati glowered. "I really hate how you're taking advantage of my binding curse."

"How are we going to get down there?"

Vaati took another look over the edge. The fall was a long one, but he didn't want to waste more time loitering around where the monsters could find them. Besides, the water seemed deep enough to absorb the impact. "Jump."

"What? At this height?"

"You're going first. You manage to survive the strangest situations." Before Link could draw his sword to defend himself, Vaati shoved him over the edge.

"Argh!" Link caught Vaati's sleeve on the way down, sending the sorcerer toppling over the edge with him. He caught hold of a small sapling growing out of the edge of the cliff.

"Stupid boy,  _let go!"_

"I'm not going to die without taking you with me!"

Vaati gritted his teeth as his grip started to weaken. "You fool," he hissed as the thin branches slipped through his fingers.

XXXXXXXXXXX

When Link regained consciousness, he found that they had washed over to the entrance of a temple beneath the bridge that extended over the lake from the town. He was thankful that the currents had pushed them somewhere safe; otherwise they would've drowned. Vaati was sitting against a stone serpent carved by the temple entrance, squeezing water out of his hat.

Link crawled onto his knees and coughed out water. "Why are you so reckless? Couldn't you have waited before you decided to do something like that? How long was I out for?" He squinted as water trickled over his face.

Vaati shook his hat before putting it back on his head. The weight of the water made its point flop across his hair like a rag. "Don't know. I woke up a few minutes ago myself."

"We could have died!"

The sorcerer ran his fingers through his soaked hair. "But we didn't. If it were so easy to get rid of you I'm sure I would've succeeded eons ago. Your luck and survivability is unbelievable."

Link crossed his arms, making his gloves squish with water. "Have you ever thought that maybe I usually survive because I'm cautious, and that you fail because you're reckless?"

"Are you suggesting I don't think things through?" Vaati's eyes narrowed.

"No, I'm saying you're impatient."

The sorcerer sniffed indignantly. "I learned a long time ago that waiting doesn't do you any good." Link arched his eyebrows in confusion at the cryptic comment. Vaati stood up, frowning at the rubbery squeaking his watery sandals made whenever he shifted his weight. "Stop complaining. We're where we wanted to be, yes?" There was another ridiculous squeak from below his feet, making the sorcerer sigh heavily.

Wiping water off of his face, Link winced when his head decided it was a good time to start throbbing. As much as water could save someone from a fall, it still hurt. "You could've killed us both," he grumbled. Link could feel water sloshing through his boots.

"Ha. If it actually worked you would've died alone."

"Stop pretending like you want to kill me. You can't do anything by yourself anymore."

Vaati bristled. "You have no idea how much I want you dead, boy. Three times your incarnations appeared before me and three times I was thwarted. If it weren't for you I would've had ultimate power by now."

Link cocked his head to the side. "What would you have done with ultimate power?" he asked, curious. That was one thing he didn't get – what would anyone do with that much power? World domination? He'd heard what it was like to run a nation from Zelda, and to him, it didn't sound very fun.

Vaati blinked. Then, he became quiet as he stared across the lake blankly.

"You don't know?" Link's eyes widened in surprise.

Vaati scowled, but said nothing.

"Wait, so you're going through all this trouble to get ultimate power and you  _don't know why?"_

"Some water seeped into your head, it seems," Vaati muttered.

"You  _really_  don't kn – "

"Quiet. We're going to find Fyer." With that, he left Link staring at him in disbelief as he made his way towards the colorful floating shack.

XXXXXXXXXX

They approached the strange house that floated on the edge of Lake Hylia. A hunchbacked old man leaned against a large, painted music box and his arm swung lazily against its side. It took a while for their eyes to get used to the sight: the man was wearing a pink top that did little to cover his beer belly, and he seemed to be fond of patches as he had a bullet on his sleeve as well as two pink hearts on the knees of his pants. "Droopy" came to mind when Vaati saw the man – his eyes, his hat, his slouch, his frown, and even his pointed ears drooped in melancholy. The man perked up as he saw visitors nearing, his clown face paint crackling with the movement of his features into a rare smile.

"Well well well, you still like the Land of Fantastication, huh?" he nodded towards Link.

Link looked from the man to Vaati and back. "Me?"

"Who else?" The smile drooped again, and the clown resumed looking depressed. "You were pretty much our first regular customer."

Vaati grinned. "Can't be laughing about the Land of Fantastication now, fairy boy. Future you liked it."

Link growled. He pushed Vaati over to the clown. "Vaati here happens to be a fan of yours. His colorful outfit was inspired by you."

"I… I… have a fan?" the man was struck dumb.

Vaati grabbed Link's collar. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Just getting back at you for poking fun at me."

The clown, unaware of the tension between the two, broke into a laugh. "If you're a fan, well, I guess I'll let you take the first ride for free hehehe. Not to mention you're with Link here – you're our special customers!"

The sorcerer shoved Link into the lake, and the hero disappeared with a splash. He ignored the spluttering from below his feet. "We're looking for someone named Fyer," Vaati said gruffly. "He's supposed to be around here, do you know where he is?"

The clown's face fell. "I guess it was too good to be true. You can't be a fan if you didn't know my name was Fyer." He heaved a sigh, mumbling. "All right, what do you two want?"

Link came gasping out of the water. He crawled onto the wooden deck as Vaati answered, "We want to reach the City in the Sky. We heard you'd be able to help us."

Fyer scratched his chin before pointing his finger at an enormous canon on the other end of the walkway they were standing on. "I don't know about no cities in skies, but you can probably use that baby over there to take you someplace high like that."

Vaati looked at the canon with unease. He'd assumed that the hunkering white canon was more for show and would never have guessed that a person was supposed to be shot out of it. Wouldn't that kill the poor bloke who'd crawled inside? As the mage opened his mouth to say something, Link took the moment to grab his ankle. The hero sent him splashing into the lake as he crawled back onto the deck.

"So Mr. Fyer, have you seen me using that canon before?" Link asked, not too worried about having to crawl inside the canon. It was outlandish, but he was used to outlandish things. That was part of being a hero. He shook water off of himself and pretended not to hear the mage spitting water with offense.

"Of course, my boy! You were the one who asked me to fix it for you," the clown exclaimed. "You were gone for a while, but you came back. How, I don't know."

Link nodded. "Can you show us how to operate it again? I'm afraid I've forgotten."

Fyer shrugged his droopy shoulders. "You just climb in and away you go."

"All right. Thank you Mr. Fyer!" Link began to walk towards he canon while avoiding Vaati's attempts to push him back into the lake. The two began to raise their voices, and instead of looking like a legendary hero and an evil wind mage, they resembled two fighting kids. Fyer shook his head.

"Such a shame he wasn't a fan." He watched as Link and Vaati entered a heated argument on who was going to be the canon victim first. "… The way they bicker – you'd think they were old wives or somethin'." The clown stuck his hands into his pockets. "Best friends… I wish I had one of those when I was their age."

XXXXXXXXX

The City in the Sky was known for being tranquil by those who knew of its existence. Because it was such an elusive city, however, the majority of the people who knew about it were the people who lived there, and they were the epitomes of tranquility. They were of the Oocca race, and the lived by the decree to avoid unnecessary panic.

These days, however, the tranquility of the City in the Sky was being interrupted. Firstly, there was an extremely peeved dragon that was taking out its anger on the city architecture. So far it had targeted most of the pillars and bridges – features that tended to make a satisfying crashing noise upon destruction.

Secondly, there had been an earsplitting scream that had arrived to the City from somewhere below. The scream wasn't from the Oocca – only the energetic ground dwellers tended to do that sort of thing.

The scream had arrived about ten minutes ago before it had been squelched with a very wet splash. This new interruption to the tranquility caught the attention of the dragon that had been occupied in burning the hovering Peahat plants until they exploded in flames. Argorok soared to a single pillar he had spared on his favorite perch on the highest tower, and looked towards the direction of the scream. Curiosity momentarily replaced his rage.

And then his rage quickly replaced his curiosity.

Far in the distance, he could make out two exhausted figures floating in a small pool by the edge of the city. It was Link and Vaati, and they were spread out on the water like overcooked noodles.

"The Ssssorcerer!"

It was him! The one who had dared to mock him and fool him into thinking he couldn't defeat him. What was  _he_  doing here? Did he come to insult Argorok, the great dragon,  _again?_!

Argorok gnawed on the metal frame of his perch and the wires glowed red hot from his fire. He glared at the hero and the sorcerer with hate.

The dragon could take them out while they were still dazed. He could dive to where they were and crush them with his claws. Even so, he was amused that they had decided to come to his territory – he guessed that they had come to pick a fight with him, and if there was anything the dragon respected it was foolish bravery.

The dragon calmed down and relaxed his grip on the perch. Maybe he was old-fashioned: Argorok decided he would let the two challengers come to him while he waited on his throne to test if they were worthy of facing him. The City itself would give them difficulties, and if they couldn't even reach him then they weren't worth fighting.

The dragon smiled to himself.  _Let ussss ssssee if you can live up to your name, Wind Mage Vaati._


	19. The City in the Sky

Link lay on the grass, heavy with water soaked into his tunic. The canon flight had exhausted him, along with the argument with Vaati regarding who was going to test the safety of the cannon first: Link had lost, so he had gone first. He had to give it to him, the arrogant prick – Vaati hadn't been a conniving overlord for nothing, and he had a way with words when he wanted to sound convincing. Link didn't do words: he was used to solving things with swords.

And so he'd screamed all the way to the City in the Sky until he'd been silenced by the small pool he'd landed in upon arrival. Vaati had arrived a few seconds later, also screaming (though he'd never admit it), and Link had splashed away to avoid being squashed by one flying wind mage.

Link coughed out water and glanced at Vaati who was groaning under the pile of fabric that was his cape. He reminded Link of a jellyfish that had washed up onto the beach. Link crawled onto his knees and took a moment to get used to the thin air. His head ached. "Hey Jellyfish, something's coming."

"Unn?" Vaati wearily tried to empty his ears of water. He shook water away from his face. "What was that?" The sorcerer dragged himself onto land and flicked his boomerang, spinning it around himself so that it dried his clothes with his wind.

"Gracious! You're that young gentlemen who helped us back to the City in the Sky." A creature that looked like a tan cucco with a bald human head came running towards Link. A small, disembodied head with wings flew behind it.

"Er… I'm sorry, it seems I've forgotten who you are," Link's voice thinned, unsure about what he thought about the two beings.

The bird-human hopped in surprise. "Well, that is a problem, certainly. I should introduce myself again. You may call me Ooccoo, and this is my son, Ooccoo Jr." She (so assumed Link) noticed Vaati. "Gracious! You seem to have a visitor."

"That's Vaati. He doesn't like people very much," he added when he noticed the sorcerer with a wretched expression.

Ooccoo watched the mage curiously as he ignored them. "My, that's a shame. But now that you're here can we ask you to get rid of the dragon that has made its home at the wind tower? It has been giving us problems, gracious yes." Her beady eyes bore through Link. It was one of those 'we're-not-forcing-you-to-help-but-if-you-don't-we'll-make-you-feel-extremely-guilty' looks.

Link waved his hands in front of him hurriedly. "Actually, we came here after we heard about a monster that had appeared at the City in the Sky." He paused. "Wait… did you just say  _dragon?_ "

"Yes, a big black fellow who seems to be angry about something. He hasn't attacked us directly, but he's making a wreck of this place."

"I believe we know this dragon," Vaati mentioned. "I also think he's staring at us right now."

Link and Ooccoo whirled around and tilted their head upwards towards the wind tower. Sure enough, there was Argorok glaring down at them from atop a pillar he had spared destruction. Vaati felt a chill pass over him when he realized that the sword wanted them to defeat the dragon they had trouble with earlier, and on its home field no less. This was going to be difficult.

Link drew his sword and braced himself when the dragon raised its wings and roared a battle cry. Ooccoo, however, waddled in front of him with little worry about a possible battle. "There's no hurry, dears! You're both soaked, gracious yes, and you both look fatigued. You two kind boys should rest for a day before you chase the dragon away."

Vaati and Link exchanged glances. Vaati's eyebrow rose slowly with skepticism. "Er… I don't know if the dragon would wait for us."

"I'm sure he'll understand."

"Uh, really?"

"Yes. Really."

Link looked at the dragon on top of the tower again. Argorok was swishing his tail back and forth like an irritated cat, but besides that it didn't seem like he was going to attack them for now. It almost looked like the dragon wanted them to meet him at the top. Link gave up. "Um, you don't seem very concerned…" the hero observed, addressing Ooccoo.

Ooccoo clucked, "Gracious! It wouldn't do to fret about a problem. I've been teaching my dear son to calmly think about something before panicking."

At this moment, the flying head pitched in. "Momma's strict about that. I'm not even allowed to cry."

Link was bewildered. "Oh. I'm sorry."

The little bird creature strutted away towards a small egg-shaped house. "Let's get you two boys dry before you catch a cold."

Link and Vaati watched her leaving figure in confusion. She clucked another "Gracious!" when there was an earsplitting screech from Argorok tearing away the metal wires along the pillar he was sitting on, and then she continued to waddle towards the house.

Vaati scratched his head. "I was expecting more of a 'screaming people everywhere' welcome."

Link nodded. "Me too. I kind of lost motivation to go fight…"

XXXXXXXXXX

When somebody offers you a place to stay, Link believed, it was only proper that you remember their names. He soon discovered that this belief was going to be challenged, as he attempted to learn the names of the strange creatures that resided in the house.

"Your name was -?"

 _Garblegarblegarble_.

"… I'm sorry, I couldn't catch that."

Vaati watched the whole exchange in amusement. "That's in the old tongue. I didn't expect it to still exist in this era."

"What did he-she-it say?"

"She said her name was Ooccoo."

Link stared at the little creature that was looking back at him with curious, beady eyes. He then looked over to the first Ooccoo they had initially met outside. "Are you sure?"

"Don't question me. I know more than you."

Link sighed. "Okay, it's a pleasure to meet you Ooccoo." He turned to the next one. "My name is Link. Thank you for letting us rest here. May I ask for your name?"

_Garblegarblegarble._

Vaati snickered. "She said her name is Ooccoo."

"Are you being serious?" Link rounded on Vaati.

"It's not my fault they're not very creative with names," the mage said simply.

_Garblegarblegarble._

"She says they're all named Ooccoo."

_Garblegarblegarblegarble._

"… and that they've never had names until you asked."

Link looked blankly at the creature watching him. "How can you not have names?"

"Don't be racist. Just because it doesn't make sense to you doesn't mean it doesn't make sense to them."

Link sighed. "All right. Ooccoo, Ooccoo, Ooccoo, and… Ooccoo…" he glanced over at Vaati who was still sniggering, "I'll be sure to remember your… names."

"Don't offend one of them by forgetting."

_Garblegarblegarblegarble._

"Oh, and Ooccoo says she wants to thank us for agreeing to take out the dragon."

Link put a hand to his face. "Can I rename them? Ooccoo one, Ooccoo two… anything! It's going to become confusing."

Vaati snorted. "If you're going to rename them you should be more inventive than that."

"Then what would you call them?"

"I don't know. It's not like I'm having trouble with their names." The sorcerer shrugged. "Oh very well. How about Small Ooccoo, Medium Ooccoo, Large Ooccoo, and Super Ooccoo?"

Link gave him a flat look. "Let me guess what you'll end up naming your kids if you end up having any: Small Vaati, Medium Vaati, Large Vaati, and Super Vaati."

_Garblegarblegarble._

Link and Vaati paused their discussion on names when the Ooccoo by Link's feet fluttered. The sorcerer nodded. "Ooccoo prefers to be known as Ooccoo."

_Garblegarble… garble?_

"And Ooccoo doesn't understand why 'Ooccoo' is a problem."

"…"

 _Garblegarble_.

"Neither does Ooccoo."

Link appeared worn out. "I'm going to go sleep."

The Ooccoo who could talk Hylian came back with a plateful of food balanced on her head as Link left to go sleep. "Gracious! Where did the green gentleman go? I hope he did not get impatient, gracious no."

The sorcerer smiled smugly. "He was a little overwhelmed by Ooccoo."

She turned around to the other four in the room sternly. "You weren't rude to the gentleman?"

_Garblegarblegarble._

"Gracious! He didn't like your names?" She looked to Vaati, her food still balanced neatly on her head. "Gracious me, whatever could be the problem with Ooccoo?"

The mage shrugged, taking the plate. "He couldn't handle it."

Ooccoo pondered over this, and then clucked, "It must be the accents, poor dear. Gracious! The old language is a bit different from Hylian. Well, please let the gentleman know that he should get something to eat."

Vaati grinned with mischief, "I'll go tell him Ooccoo brought some food."

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ah, there you are Master Argorok."

Argorok twisted his neck downwards to see where the voice had come from. There were two helmed reptiles armed with a sword and shield, and they had leathery wings protruding from their backs. The dragon recognized them as Aeralfos – the aerial fighters of the Lizalfos family. Argorok growled for a moment when he saw a third figure behind the two Aeralfos. It was Opal, but she warped away as soon as she had appeared with the two lizard monsters.

The monster that had been talking continued, turning its large round eyes at the dragon. "We're here on the Dark King's orders to make sure you weren't doing anything foolish."

"Like what?" Argorok snapped.

"Like… destroying everything," the Aeralfos reported. Its partner simply nodded and surveyed the partly wrecked and scorched city. "He would prefer to have things he can rule when he comes to power."

"And not become the Lord of Rubble," the other one quipped quietly.

Argorok snarled, flame shooting between his teeth. Taking one leap off of the perch, he crashed in front of the two lesser monsters. The Aeralfos hopped away nervously as the dragon rounded on them. "I shall resssspect the King'ssss wishessss, but that doessss not make me any lessss annoyed by your pressssence."

The two monsters valiantly stood in attention, even though their eyes were wandering fearfully. "Yes Master Argorok. Of course."

"I want you out of my ssssight," the dragon growled.

"But orders –"

"But you musssst follow orders, I know," Argorok whirled around irritably. The Aeralfos stood prepared to run in case the dragon decided to torch them. After several long seconds, the dragon clicked his jaws. "Sssstay by the entrance of thissss tower."

The two monsters exchanged glances, and then waited expectantly for an explanation. With two swoops of his wings, Argorok returned to his perch.

"The hero and the wind mage will make their way here ssssoon. Your job issss to sssstop them. Do not kill the hero; Lord Ganon would like to kill him with his own handssss."

The two Aeralfos bowed their heads and they spread their wings to leave. "Yes sir."

"Assss for the Ssssorcerer Vaati," Argorok appeared to sneer below his black helm, "get rid of him."

"Yes sir."

XXXXXXXXXX

The next day, after a long confusing conversation with Ooccoos, Link and Vaati prepared themselves to tackle the wind tower.

"Do you know the fastest way up the tower?" Link asked the Ooccoo who could speak Hylian.

"Oh, I nearly forgot," Ooccoo jumped. "Do you have the double clawshots?"

Vaati paled at the mention of them, while Link held them out. "These two?"

"Wonderful. Then you do not have to go find them, gracious no! Just go straight through until you make it to the tower. You will have to use the clawshots to get across the wind turbines." She bobbed her head. "You should arrive relatively quickly."

Link handed one to Vaati. "Here, like Ooccoo says we'll probably have to use these often. I have two, take one." The mage held it uncertainly before wordlessly putting it on his left arm. Ooccoo shook her head.

"No, no," she clucked. "One of you will have to wear both at the same time. They're called 'double clawshots' for a reason, dears." When the two boys just looked at her blankly, not quite understanding what she meant, she wobbled from one foot to the other. "Oh, never mind. You'll see what I mean when you see the turbines, gracious yes."

Link and Vaati shrugged, and began to walk towards the tower at the city center. Ooccoo fluttered a short ways after them.

"Good luck! We will have lunch ready for you if you return by noon." They heard her queer "Gracious me!" as they walked along the corridor leading to the main tower. Once she was out of earshot, Vaati kicked a stone off the edge of the walkway where it whistled to the ground miles below them.

"It's like she's sending us off on a goddessdamned picnic," Vaati griped. "I don't see what the big deal about the dragon is if they don't seem to care."

Link sighed. He spun the Master sword in an arc, warming up his arms for an inevitable fight. "We're doing this for the sword, too."

Vaati sliced a Baba Serpent that had foolishly decided to attack him. He punted the hissing head down the edge of the floating city. "This better be worth it, then."


	20. Double Clawshot

Vaati couldn't help but marvel at the architecture of the City in the Sky. He couldn't fathom how the Oocca, with their short stubby wings and clumsy legs could manage to build a city that was far more technologically advanced than Hyrule. Somehow, they had figured out how to create a system of wind turbines that powered a generator to keep the city on the air. He also had a hard time believing that these cucco-like creatures had been able to create the massive city structure with all of its smooth curves; somehow they had figured it out, and it was nothing short of impressive.

The City held some semblance to his own Palace of Winds, but the sorcerer was sure that this wasn't the remains of his former home. It was far too ancient, and if anything, it was possible that the Wind Tribe who had lived in the Palace of Winds before him had copied the Oocca technology.

The first chamber of the inner City was a long corridor with smooth white pillars hanging from the ceiling. There were some blue blocks that they could walk on, but the Oocca had apparently been too lazy to complete the floor because they could fly across the gaps. Some of them were walking impossibly across the walls by gripping the chained sections that served as a form of path. Vaati stepped onto one of the blocks and craned his neck to look for a way to cross the incomplete floor to the other side. There was a door in the far end of the chamber, and Ooccoo had told them they needed to continue straight ahead to reach the tower entrance.

"Hey Vaati… you're sinking," Link pointed out. The sorcerer looked down and noticed that the block he was standing on was rapidly falling down. Vaati hastily jumped back onto the main platform.

"I guess floors were optional for the Oocca." The mage watched the blue block fall farther away from the City.

Link walked over and stared after the shrinking dot as well. "I wonder what the people down in Hyrule are going to think of blocks falling from the sky…"

XXXXXXXX

_Meanwhile by Lake Hylia…_

"Fyer! The SKY IS FALLING!"

XXXXXXXXX

_Back to Link and Vaati…_

"Any ideas?" Link asked, eyeing the next platform that was too far away to jump.

Vaati focused on one of the Oocca that was waddling along the wall some distance away. He fired the clawshot a few times experimentally before the corners of his mouth curled into a nasty smile. "Here, I'm going to make these cuccos help us whether they want to or not."

"I hope you're not going to do anything drastic…" Link nervously eyed Vaati's clawshot paired with his rather unfriendly grin.

Vaati fired, and the clawshot returned with a hysterical Ooccoo.

_Garblegarblegarblegarble!_

He mage dangled the creature upside down in front of him, and he watched it coolly until it became quiet. "Now, listen carefully," he began with his voice in that dangerous, testy tone, "We're going to get rid of that dragon of yours even though you don't seem particularly worried about it. Think of it as a nice little gesture from the people down below. We're doing it for free, understand?  _For free._  So I hope you won't complain if we ask you to carry us across to the other side."

_Garblegarblegarble!_

"Well good. Be quick."

"… I think Ooccoo would've helped us if we had just asked nicely," mumbled Link, appalled.

Vaati scoffed. "That  _was_ asking nicely."

Link turned his gaze skyward. "Fine. I guess coming from you that was pretty nice. At least you didn't threaten to kill it."

"Hmph."

The wind mage raised the little creature over his head, and then leaped towards the door on the other side of the drop. As soon as he made it over to the door, he shooed the startled Ooccoo back towards Link. After seeing how it skittered away from them after getting both of them across, Link decided he ought to apologize to the frightened thing later. That is, if he remembered which 'Ooccoo' had helped them…

They continued straight through the City, following the Hylian-speaking-Ooccoo's instructions. They had no problems with progress until they found themselves outside the building they had just been in. A sharp wind suddenly hit them as they stood at the edge of an outcropping. The former wind mage closed his eyes and let the breeze pass over him. He enjoyed the feeling of the cool, misty wind.

Link, on the other hand, had wrinkled his brow in annoyance as the wind threatened to blow his hat away. He grumbled to himself, wondering how Vaati didn't seem to have the same hat problem. Link's annoyance quickly turned to dread when he first observed the frightening fall, then the spinning turbines, and then the door far across in the distance. He put everything together and came to an unpleasant conclusion. "So that's what she meant when she said we're going to need double clawshots…"

"Hm?" Vaati opened his eyes. They didn't have their usual sharp glint, as though he were thinking of something else. "What's the problem, boy?"

"That," he nodded his chin towards the turbines. "I can only think of one way to get across and that's to let one person use both clawshots like Ooccoo said. We can't share one each between us."

Vaati turned sharply to Link. "What are you suggesting?"

Link looked away, avoiding the sorcerer's red gaze. "You know, before I tell you I'm going to make it very clear I don't like my suggestion either." He paused.

The mage stared coldly at Link. "Out with it."

Link explained, all the while not entirely sure if the chill was from the wind or Vaati's glare. It took a good five minutes of awkward silence before they began to slowly progress across towards the other side.

XXXXXXXXX

 _Sching_ … latch.

 _Sching…_ latch.

"Link?"

"What?"

 _Sching…_  latch.

"… This is gay."

Link was currently making his way across using the clawshots to latch onto the turbines. Vaati was holding onto Link in a piggyback position, as the two had not been able to think of any other plans to get them both across.

Link sighed. "And?"

"I don't enjoy hugging men, thank you. Much less you," Vaati griped.

"Can you be a little more mature about this?”

“I’m still going to kill you even if you confess you have any sort of… feelings.”

"AUGH you stuck-up, conceited piece of snot! I'm going to drop you here prove a point."

Vaati's face contorted into a pained grimace. "Opal and Ganondorf are going to suffer for this."

When they finally reached the other end, Vaati moved towards the edge and quietly stood by himself to deal with his own demons. He had his fist against his forehead, his expression one of utter shame. Link left him alone, scowling unhappily at the top of the tower they needed to get to. When the sorcerer did speak, he sounded defeated. "All right, let's go find that dragon."

XXXXXXXXXX

When they walked through the door, they found themselves inside the main tower. Argorok was waiting at the top, and they could hear his occasional angry roar over the noise of the fans. Vaati was shadowed by gloom when he saw that they were going to have to repeat the double clawshot maneuver to reach the top using the turbines. He snapped back to attention when he heard a strange hissing sound accompanying the whizzing of the fans.

"Link, look over there," he pointed at two helmed reptiles hovering above them by beating their leathery wings. They were regarding Link and Vaati with mild curiosity.

"What are they? I don't think I've seen them before." Link didn't keep his eyes off of them as they appeared to discuss something amongst each other and began to circle the air.

Vaati took out his boomerang, crouching slightly. "They're Aeralfos. We're going to have to ground them."

One of the monsters stopped circling and tilted its head at Vaati. It blinked, and then began to snigger. "Hsk hsk hsk. The hapless chap wants to ground us."

"Pfft. Isn't he the one who lost his sorcery?" The other one stopped mid-circle to laugh at the now fuming sorcerer. In response, Vaati let loose a vortex towards one of them. The first Aeralfos brought up its shield and the boomerang bounced off harmlessly. It sniggered huskily.

"Laughing? At me? You're going to regret it, you pathetic wretch," Vaati hissed.

"You're one to talk." The laughing lizard gracefully swooped down, its glinting sword aimed at the wind mage. Vaati continued to stand in place defiantly until Link pushed him out of the way.

"Don't forget you're not all powerful anymore," he reminded him.

Link's comment only succeeded in angering Vaati further. Shoving the other boy aside, he shook his boomerang in Link's face. "I'll show them! Don't interfere, I don't need your help!"

One of the Aeralfos landed lightly on one of the turbines. Its reptilian face was surprisingly expressive, and it appeared to smirk at them. "Yes, please don't interfere, hero. It'll make our job much easier." The monster looked over to its partner who was hovering in the air a few feet away. "I'll take the sorcerer if you don't mind."

"Oh fine," the other rolled its eyes.

Link watched the exchange, and then waved his hand towards Vaati who was glaring daggers at them. "You sure you know what you're doing?" He saw the sorcerer turn his venomous attention towards him. Link shrugged. "All right. Your choice. Just don't come to me pleading saying you changed your mind."

That was it. Unable to contain his anger for being belittled constantly, Vaati screamed " _Link! You're next!"_  and aimed his clawshot at the Aeralfos taunting from one of the turbines. The monster brought up its shield like it had done with the boomerang earlier, but was surprised when it felt the shield yanked away from its claws.

"Hskaaaa," the Aeralfos frowned, and circled around before landing in front of Vaati. Its partner, meanwhile, smirked and whirled its sword to face Link.

"Hey, not bad," Link said to himself. He brought up his own clawshot and tried to pry the shield out of the remaining Aeralfos's grip. Unfortunately, this one had learned from what had happened to its partner and was keen to avoid the clawshot. The Aeralfos kept a safe distance away from Link, trying to figure out a way to defeat him without killing him as per Argorok's orders. Tired of watching his clawshots dodged gracefully by the monster, Link brought up his bow instead. "Let's try this one then."

"Hm?" The Aeralfos was fast enough to dodge the clawshots, but it couldn't beat the superior speed of Link's arrows. It had no choice but to bring its shield up to defend itself. Link took this moment to take away its shield.

The Aeralfos had seen it coming, and wasted no time to dive straight for Link. Their swords connected with a clash, and Link had an uncomfortably close view of the monster's pointed teeth as it snarled in annoyance. "Hisssss."

Link was the first to jump back, and the two circled around each other to find an opening for attack. Neither wanted to dive in recklessly. After a few seconds, an idea came to Link and he slowly returned his sword into its sheath. The monster looked at him dumbfoundedly as he revealed his empty hands. "Look, I'm defenseless."

"What are you planning?" The Aeralfos's yellow saucer eyes swiveled from one hand to the other, suspecting some sort of trick. It's eyes narrowed as Link shrugged and casually stretched his arms. Growling in offense that the hero was taunting it, the winged reptile rushed forwards in an attempt to stab him. It was too late when it realized Link had leaped into the air to smash the sword through its neck. The monster gurgled where it lay pierced into the ground, and lay still as death claimed it.

"That's the Mortal Draw. You shouldn't let your guard down like that," Link addressed the dead beast.

"Idiot…" the remaining Aeralfos muttered, pausing momentarily in its assault on Vaati a few yards away. It then turned back towards the wind mage who was just barely managing to hold his own with the shield that he had stolen from the monster earlier. There was a look of pure frustration on Vaati's face as he was forced to stay on the defensive against the monster's blows.

Link leaned against his sword as he watched the fight. "Are you sure you don't need my help?" he called over.

"Quiet, you fool! I used to be the most feared sorcerer alive!" Vaati pressed his weight against his back foot and swung the boomerang towards the monster's weapon. The wind caught the metal and brought it back towards the mage. Now armed with both a shield and sword from the Aeralfos, Vaati held them up triumphantly while his opponent glowered waspishly.

"There is no way I am going to be defeated by the likes of you, Sorcerer Vaati," the Aeralfos growled, slowly closing the distance between them.

Link rested his chin on his hands, wondering if he should interfere. "You know you're terrible with the sword…" he nodded to Vaati.

"You're not even holding it correctly," the monster added, snapping its jaws in the direction of the sword Vaati was holding. The sorcerer was holding it over his shoulder like a javelin.

Vaati scoffed, his voice a dangerous calm. "Who said I was going to use it as a sword?"

"What?"

Before the Aeralfos could do anything, he lunged at the monster and threw the steel like a spear. Caught off guard by the completely unexpected movement, the monster failed to dodge the flying sword. It screeched as it fell to the ground next to where its partner also lay slain.

Link stood up in surprise at the outcome. He hadn't actually believed Vaati would win in his current state. He glanced at the still slightly twitching corpses, and solemnly thought about how overconfidence could be anyone's downfall. He also thought about how the ever-confident sorcerer probably didn't take home the same lesson he did.

Vaati kicked the dead monster with disgust. "Next time you should know who you're dealing with before laughing."

Link sighed heavily. "Has anyone ever told you that you have anger management issues?"

Vaati glared. "No one laughs at me and gets away with it."

"See what I mean?" Link looked up at the series of turbines over their heads that led to the top of the tower. "Now, are you going to cool down? I don't want a psychopath on me when we start going up the turbines."

Vaati became sober at Link's words. "There's no other way to get up there…?" He sounded almost desperate.

Link shook his head. "Nope. Afraid not."

The sorcerer opened his mouth to say something, stopped, and began again. "… All right. It's not like my pride can die any more than it already has."

XXXXXXXXX

A light rain began to fall as a grey cloud passed over the tower where Argorok sat waiting. The water droplets rolled down the dragon's armor, but Argorok didn't seem to mind or notice. He was currently occupied by something else.

Argorok stared at the two challengers who had appeared just below his perch. They didn't seem to have noticed him yet, and the dragon momentarily wondered about the hero and sorcerer's tired expression that clearly showed they were both in a horrible mood. Argorok didn't think it was because of the Aeralfos he had sent to greet them: the dragon had been pretty certain that those useless monsters wouldn't be able to stop Link and Vaati. He had only ordered them to go so that he could get rid of those annoying lizard-kin and dragon wannabes – if they actually managed to succeed then that was great too, but he hadn't counted on it.

He very deliberately raised his wings into the air, the blood red scales just barely visible where his armor didn't cover them. For dramatic effect, he let the metal plates screech together, causing Link and Vaati to look up at him for the first time since they had arrived at the top of the tower.

"Welcome to my domain, piteous cretinssss. You did not dissssappoint me, assss I would have been should you have failed to arrive here."

The dragon swooped over past the edge of the tower roof, momentarily disappearing out of sight from Link and Vaati who were now heatedly discussing how to defeat him. Argorok could hear the hint of worry in their voices, and it made him chuckle.

The dragon veered straight up, breathing a pillar of flame in front of his path. He then tilted his left wing so that he careened sharply around the rooftop that was to be their battle arena. Hot flames drew the dragon's path through the air, and Link and Vaati found themselves inching towards the center of the roof. Argorok wheezed another chuckle as he continued to fly in a circle, breathing fire the entire time.

"I applaud your bravery, sssstupid though it might have been."

The temperature rose as Argorok circled the air while breathing fire. A thick, white fog appeared as the falling rain vaporized with each passing burst of flame. Before long, the steam and mist hid nearly everything it touched.

Link and Vaati could only hear the thudding of the dragon's wings and its sinister hiss. "I will end you here. You will not be sssso lucky thissss time."


	21. Dragon's Wrath

The rain vaporized from Argorok's fire and surrounded Link and Vaati, obscuring their view. The mist came white and thick, and Vaati knew they were in trouble. Well, more in trouble than they had been earlier. He remembered how Argorok's eyes were covered with his black helm. "Link," Vaati squinted, trying to see through the white fog, "be careful. We might not be able to see Argorok, but Argorok can still know where we are. That dragon doesn't rely on his eyes to see."

There was a crash from somewhere where Argorok's pillar had been standing as though something had smashed into it violently. The two flinched, and then they heard a horrendous creaking sound. As Link and Vaati turned towards the direction of the noise, they noticed a long black shadow approaching them quickly. They scrambled out of the way as the broken pillar toppled down to where they had been standing moments before.

"If only we could get rid of this mist." Link quickly looked around, bracing himself against the fallen pillar. It was eerily quiet with no sign of Vaati anywhere. "Vaati?"

The mist thinned for a split second, and Link noticed the sorcerer staring at the pillar on the other side of it, stunned at how he had almost been flattened by it. Vaati was preoccupied by the pillar and hadn't noticed the looming shadow that was quickly closing in on him.

"Vaati look out!"

The wind mage snapped to attention, but it was too late. Argorok roared, parting the mist in his path. Talons outstretched the dragon snatched Vaati off of the ground and soared into the air triumphantly.

"No!" Link ran after the dragon until his leg slipped off of the edge of the roof. The hero struggled back onto solid ground while squinting urgently through the fog that was gradually beginning to clear. Even so, the wet weather and the large gray clouds made it difficult to see. Link's breath hitched when he saw Argorok flying at an unreachable distance away with Vaati struggling fruitlessly against his iron grip.

"Let… me… go!" Vaati growled between gasps. He winced when Argorok squeezed him even tighter, threatening to break his ribs.

"In a minute, Ssssorcerer Vaati. I give you my word that I will let you go." Argorok snorted a plume of fire. "I wonder what it will be like, to contemplate your inevitable end assss you fall to your death many miles above the earth."

"Rrrr…" Vaati pushed his arms against the scaly talons, but they refused to budge. He was completely trapped, and unless he thought of something he was going to have a deadly trip back down. It was hard to think clearly with the rain stinging against his face, his hair smacking his eyes, and the crushing claws around his wiry frame. In a fit of desperation, Vaati twisted against the dragon's talons once again.

He stopped abruptly when he saw something between the scaly claws. The clawshot that Link had loaned him was poking between the talons where it was hooked to his belt. Vaati had no idea what good it would do him, but at this point just having his hands on something was comfort enough. He stretched over the huge claw that was around his waist in an effort to reach the clawshot.

"You sssstruggle in vain. Accept your fate. You may have been able to defeat me if you had your powerssss, but you do not. You are assss pathetic assss any other creature before me."

Vaati ignored the dragon and continued to strain his arms to reach the clawshot. Time was running short – it wouldn't be long before Argorok flew to his chosen site to drop him. The towers of the City in the Sky became less common as the dragon flew to the city perimeters. "Almost… have it. AAAH  _curse everything!_ " Vaati waved his arm roughly, ignoring the pain in his ribs to grab the clawshot that was centimeters away. His fingers finally closed around it. "Aha! Got it!"

With a snarl, Vaati wrenched himself around and aimed the clawshot at Argorok's tail. The clawshot launched itself towards the dragon's hooked armor and became locked onto the tail. Vaati yanked it towards him as hard as he could.

"Grooaaaar!" Argorok veered into the air as his tail, now curled towards his feet, disrupted his flight. Screeching angrily, the dragon attempted to bring Vaati towards his face to torch him, but that only succeeded in bringing his tail up as well, making him unstable in flight. "How dare you, wretched cur!"

Argorok released his grip on the sorcerer, and Vaati felt his stomach churn as he swung with the dragon's tail. Vaati only had seconds to see a wall rushing towards him at a terrifying speed as Argorok furiously swung his tail towards one of the city towers. "Holy sh- !"

The sorcerer frantically made the clawshot release its hold of the dragon's tail, but he was still in the trajectory of hitting the wall. With a crack, Vaati's back slammed into the stone. He tried to force his eyes open as they fluttered in a daze. There was no time to think about the flashing stars that flickered along the edge of his vision: he felt his back slowly slide down the wall, and then felt nothing at all as he began to fall forward into the gray clouds below. Between his failing vision, he could make out Argorok rearing his neck, preparing to breathe fire.

_To hell with it all if I die here…_

When Vaati targeted the clawshot towards Argorok, he didn't really know what it would ultimately achieve. It was more of a reaction: something was attacking him, and therefore he attacked it. The hooked metal of the clawshot became lodged into the back plating of the dragon's black armor. The sorcerer narrowly avoided Argorok's fire and falling to his demise, but he was now confronted with the problem of finding himself clinging desperately to the monster's back. Vaati braced himself when Argorok screeched in rage and nose-dived into the clouds below.

Meanwhil, still up on the roof, Link craned his neck to see if he could catch where Argorok had taken Vaati. He'd heard the dragon's screams of rage, and took that as a good sign that Vaati was still alive.

 _Hang in there_.

Several seconds later, he heard the whoosh of fire from somewhere below the tower he was standing on, as well as the dull thudding of the air from Argorok's beating wings. The air around him became slightly hotter.

"Below!" Link took a few steps away from the edge of the tower where he had been standing, just before a jet of flame erupted upwards followed by Argorok shooting towards the sky with a screech. In that split second just before the dragon flew away, he saw a trace of purple on its back. "Vaati!" Link cried. He watched Argorok spiral madly in the air in an attempt to shake the sorcerer off of him.  _It can't be long before Vaati falls off,_  Link thought as the rain rolled off of his face. The rain was going to make Vaati's hold slippery, and it was only a matter of time before he lost his grip and fell into the depths below. "I can't just stand here, there's got to be something!" He began to rifle through his inventory bag to see if there was anything he could use against Argorok. There weren't very many options…

The first thing that came to mind were the bombs because they were the only weapons that probably dealt enough damage to get through the dragon's heavy armor. The damp weather, however, was going to render them useless and it was almost impossible to hit Argorok with one of them anyway even if the rain wasn't an issue. The bow and arrows were no good because they would just bounce right off the armor, and there was the same problem with the slingshot. There was no way he could manage to hit a flying target with the heavy ball and chain, and the rest of the items like the spinning top were a mystery to use.

_Think. Think think think!_

His hands touched a pair of cool metal, and he paused when he realized they were the Iron Boots. It was then that an idea hit him, and he hurriedly looked around to see where the dragon had gone. Argorok had flown out of sight behind some buildings, but Link could tell that he was nearby from its furious roars. Any minute now, the monster was bound to fly back around from one of the towers and pass by the one he was currently standing on.

Wasting no time, Link shoved his feet into the iron boots and dragged himself over to the edge as he toiled against the extra weight. His blue eyes narrowed as he eyed the distance between him and a crumbling pillar on the other side. Link aimed his clawshot at the pillar, closing one of his eyes for better aim.

He wasn't sure it was going to work – if Argorok realized what he was up to, then it was over. However, Link was banking on the fact that the dragon was going to be too distracted by Vaati to notice what he was doing. Link bit his lower lip when there was an explosion somewhere to his right from where Argorok had smashed through a wall in rage.

Link took a deep breath as the dragon careened towards his tower.

He had one shot.

Just as Argorok was about to cross the path in front of him, Link fired the clawshot and braced himself. The claw latched onto the pillar on the opposite side, and Link pulled the chain taut right in front of the flying dragon. Argorok had no time to fly out of the way, and he smashed right into the chain. Link's arms threatened to snap out of their sockets as the impact pulled him roughly across, but he dug into the ground with his Iron Boots and yanked the chain as hard as he could until the veins popped up along his arms.

Argorok gurgled as his neck scrunched over the chain while the sorcerer on his back scrambled to stay on.

"Vaati, over this way!" Link shouted through Argorok's snarls.

Vaati looked up towards the hero momentarily, and then his eyes widened when Link's shouts were cut short by the low groan of breaking stone. He slowly dared to turn his head towards the pillar that, unable to support Argorok's impact, was starting to fall towards him.

"Vaati, jump!"

"Dang it!"

Not waiting around to be squelched by the falling pillar, Vaati took his chances and leapt into the empty sky. Shielding his face as bits of stone fell along with the rain, Vaati fired his clawshot towards the tower where Link was standing. He felt himself gradually relax as the item led him towards safer ground.

Vaati allowed himself to look behind him, and he watched intently as the pillar came crashing down onto Argorok's wings. There was a hideous screech as Argorok's left wing cracked and tore with the weight of the stone pillar. At the same time, the increased weight on the chain of Link's clawshot put a strain on the hero. Vaati yelled out when he saw Link's feet slipping out of his boots, following the unconscious dragon back down to the ground many miles below. "You idiot!"

Link thought he could feel his heart rise up to his throat as he accelerated down with Argorok. His clawshot was still jammed and it wouldn't come back fast enough for him to be able to ready it again to save himself. He waved his arms slowly; a reflex as though his body wished he could fly…

_Sching!_

"Ah!"

After a chaotic tumble through dirt, mud, and grass, Link lay sprawled onto the grassy roof of the highest tower in the City in the Sky. Even with all of the mud, Link had never felt more thankful for solid ground in his entire life. He breathed deeply for several seconds to recover, and then rolled onto his stomach to see Vaati sitting a few feet away, tugging the clawshot off of Link's tunic.

"Why must I always save you?" the sorcerer grumbled after a while.

Link didn't say anything. Instead, he crawled over to the edge to see what had happened to Argorok. Not even a faint roar could reach his ears, and all he could see was the endless stream of the gray rainclouds. It appeared they had defeated Argorok, and hopefully for good. "Haha… we did it."

"Indeed."

Link pointedly stared at the sky, ignoring the rain drops that fell on his face. His body was burned up from the fight, and the cool water was refreshing.

It was also melancholy.

"You know, sometimes I think we have the potential to make a great team…"

Now it was Vaati's turn to maintain silence. The sorcerer stood up and brushed the grass off of his pants, and blankly watched the wisps of clouds floating by.

Link sighed, and then pulled on the grass. It was a couple of days now ever since they had started working together, and a bothersome question had begun to bug him. It was something he didn't want to think about, but something that needed to be addressed. Link threw a furtive glance towards the wind mage who appeared to be very deliberately looking at the rainclouds. "When this ends, are we –"

"What do you think?" Vaati was quick to reply, cutting him off curtly. He continued to stare stonily ahead. "We continue where we left off. I'm going to destroy you, or you're going to destroy me."

It was funny how Vaati knew what Link was talking about immediately. Maybe the same thing had crossed his mind. The sorcerer's face was hidden by the bangs that washed over his eyes.

"Don't forget I'm only working with you so I can return to power. It is foolish to think otherwise." With that, Vaati turned his heel and began to walk in the direction of the way back down the tower.

Link shook his head and picked dirt off of his boot. Vaati was right; they were on the opposite spectra of good and evil, and it was inevitable that they clashed. But just how far away on that spectra were they, really? Within the last few days, Link had come to see that Vaati was a jerk, but… not evil. Perhaps a little misguided, but not evil like Ganondorf.

Unless, of course, that was simply because Vaati had lost all of his powers and therefore had little opportunity to  _be_  evil: absolute power corrupts absolutely, so the saying goes…

Link laughed to himself, troubled.  _That's what happens when you go adventuring. Everyone who helps you begins to appear nice._

The hero stood up and followed the leaving mage, his purple cape billowing behind him. For now, it was probably best he didn't think about the battle between them that was going to occur after all of this was over for good.

_It was inevitable…_

XXXXXXXXXXX

Far, far below the City in the Sky, Lake Hylia rippled with the waves created by a falling dragon that had hurtled through the air and shot through the water, hitting the surface with a painful crack. The clown Fyer dared to peek, only for a second, at the lake before he went back indoors and locked his door shut. Earlier, Falbi had shouted from the Flight-by-Fowl shack sitting on a cliff by the lake. He'd claimed that some block had fallen from the sky and into the lake, but Fyer hadn't believed him. The clown stubbornly refused to admit that something larger had fallen from the sky – that would only get Falbi excited.

Out on the lake and sinking deeper into the depths of the water, Argorok hung his head limply. His body was no longer responding from all of the damage it had taken, and there was a tremendous pain from his left wing.

Correction: where his left wing had once been. Most of it had been pierced and ripped violently off of his limb after it had taken the brunt of the pillar's weight.

Now, just barely conscious, Argorok debated if death by suffocation or death by inhalation of water was the least painful way to go. He was surprised that a shred of consciousness still remained at all, and he growled, thinking about how merciless fate was.

_Lord Ganon. I have failed you._

A sense of dull aching spiked through his chest, and Argorok wondered for a moment if it was his body demanding oxygen or if it was from shame.

_If only I could have a ssssecond chance… I am a disgracccce…_

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Lord Ganon, Master Argorok was last seen falling into Lake Hylia."

From where she was chained, Zelda looked up slightly at the Imp Poe that had materialized in the room to announce the news. A small flicker of hope blossomed in her chest as she thought about how Link must still be alive. Ganondorf snapped his head sharply over to where the lantern was floating and he scowled. "When was this?"

"Less than a minute ago, sir. I came immediately to report the news."

Ganondorf muttered under his breath. He'd judged the dragon to be useful, especially with its undying loyalty to him. Argorok was the type to blindly follow his orders, and the dragon also wasn't stupid like some of his other minions: those were qualities that were somewhat rare among the more powerful monsters. The powerful ones were either a little rebellious or extremely stupid. Ganondorf waved a hand roughly at the Poe. "Well go find some Wizzrobes or something and get Argorok back if the dragon is still alive."

There were a few seconds of uncomfortable silence from the Imp Poe until the ghost finally shrunk away from the dark king's critical glare. "Er… Wizzrobes, my lord? What could those be?"

Ah. So they must not exist in this era. Ganondorf snapped his fingers at the possessed Opal who immediately stood to attention. "Summon a few Wizzrobes and get them over to Lake Hylia to find Argorok. That dragon may still have its uses."

"Yes Lord Ganon," Opal bowed.

"And summon the best ones. We have no need for the weak and useless."

"Yes Lord Ganon," Opal repeated in a flat voice, and then warped away out of sight.

After she was gone, Ganondorf went back to his throne and leaned his head against his hands. He paid no attention to Zelda who had resumed looking down with a troubled expression. "Argorok's no fool," he gave a wicked smile. "He may have failed once, but he won't fail again. And if he does, I will personally destroy him."

XXXXXXXXXX

"I knew you two gentlemen would be able to defeat the dragon, gracious yes!" Ooccoo greeted them as Link and Vaati returned from the tower. "You caused us quite a fright when it began to crash into the towers, but I see you're safe."

Link nodded, but didn't say anything as he was deep in thought. Ooccoo continued on, not noticing the slight tension between Link and Vaati.

"Gracious, but were you two quick! We haven't finished preparing lunch yet." Ooccoo clucked away, and then she turned her head from the quiet Link to Vaati. "Did something happen between you two? You look quite depressed… gracious yes."

"We're fine, just tired. Thank you for your hospitality. We'll be going off now," Link mumbled to his shoes. "If you have any more trouble, please let us know."

Ooccoo stared after the leaving hero in surprise. "Well. I hope the dear is feeling all right. Gracious!" She turned to Vaati who stood coldly a few feet away. "Be a good friend and make sure he's taken care of."

Vaati scoffed, grinning as though he'd taken offense. With a faint, "hmph," he walked out the door after Link, leaving Ooccoo staring at his back with her beady eyes wide in surprise.

The sorcerer's footsteps squelched in the grass, wet with rain. He stopped just for a little bit when he saw Link standing by the edge of the pool where they had first landed when they had arrived at the City in the Sky. The hero appeared somewhat depressed after bringing up what was to come after this mess was over with. Vaati sneered. It was stupid of Link to think they could actually be allies after this was done, when Vaati had no more need to take advantage of him.

He snorted, remembering Ooccoo's outrageous request. " _Be a good friend and make sure he's taken care of."_ Pah. What did she expect him to do, go and talk to him? If only she knew who he was…

Speaking of talking, it had been a while -  _two hundred years? Five hundred? -_ since Vaati had last exchanged words with someone. Not "Die, fools!" and "I'll defeat you, Vaati!" exchanges; those didn't count as conversations. Now that he had lost all of his sorcery, he'd actually needed to take the time to talk to some people during the adventure so far. It reminded him of his miserably innocent days with Ezlo, the last period of his life where he had really talked with someone:

" _Stupid boy! I told you not to wander off by yourself. You could've been killed!"_

" _I just wanted to see what the big people were doing, Master Ezlo."_

" _The big people are dangerous, Vaati. They may accidentally kill us without knowing what they're doing."_

" _Then why do we help them?"_

He didn't really know why he thought about his old, hateful master, but he wondered what the old geezer was doing all the same. Vaati grunted,  _probably dead by now, old man._  The sorcerer couldn't help but give an ironic chuckle as he thought about the position he was in right now.  _If you saw me as I am now, you'd probably die from shock._

He looked at Link again, sneering cruelly. Pity he was going to have to kill him when their little adventure concluded.

XXXXXXXXXX

Just along the edge of Lake Hylia next to the waterfall that eventually led towards Zora's Domain, a group of voices squabbled excitedly over something. It was an unusual disturbance in the normally quiet lake, and the small group that had gathered on the sand bank was more noticeable than Fyer's colorful little house floating on the water some distance away.

"Argorok's down there. Find him and retrieve him immediately," Opal spoke loudly within the chatter amongst the group of seven robed figures who were busy talking to themselves. They became quiet as soon as she spoke.

"He's taken a swim, has he?" one of them turned to the possessed girl and snickered, apparently not in the least worried that she could be counted as the Dark King himself since she was being controlled by him. The comment garnered more half-suppressed sniggers from the others.

Opal nodded while narrowing her eyes slightly at the creatures she had revived from the past. The seven figures gathered by the edge of the lake all wore long robes of an identical fashion with long trailing sleeves that concealed their fingers. The tips of their long sorcerer's hoods drooped past their collars, and they covered their faces with a brightly painted mask of a bird. They were nameless sorcerers known only as Wizzrobes by those who encountered them.

Three were garbed in a dark blue and three more were garbed in a rusty red, and they clumped together in their respective color groups as though they preferred not to mingle. The last one, however, stood between the two groups and stood proudly with a slightly dismissive air: it was also the one who had made the comment earlier. Unlike its other brethren, its robes were a slightly paler color between red and blue. A light purple the color of thistle.

"It's nice to enjoy a good swim," the odd colored Wizzrobe mused. "Not that I've tried it myself. But I endorse it." There were more snickers from the less-than-serious group.

"Lord Ganon would like to have him found before he's dead because Argorok can still be useful," the possessed girl pressed.

The Wizzrobe waved his floppy sleeve in the air. "Silly of him to jump into the water without knowing how to swim. An ignoramus."

A blue Wizzrobe chuckled behind his bird mask. "Hear, hear! Let the fool drown I say!"

"Maybe he's having a jolly good time with the fish down there. It wouldn't do to spoil that for him," a red one chipped in. There was more laughter as the two groups of Wizzrobes babbled and joked about the whole situation.

The trouble with Wizzrobes was that, though they were aligned with the Dark Faction, they only did so out of convenience. People had told them they needed to pick a side, and so they'd done so with a big shrug and a lot of giggles. The more powerful Wizzrobes were the worst as they took the whole conflict between Light and Dark as one big joke where no one got mad (or madder than they had been) if they "accidentally" set a few people on fire. The Wizzrobes Opal had summoned were one of the best, as per Ganondorf's orders: they were of The Seven, a group of Wizzrobes who'd successfully demonstrated that sorcery worked well under a gathering of seven.

Another thing of interest about Wizzrobes was their sense of loyalty to  _The Guild._  They strictly follow rules set by their own group,  _The Guild of Wizzrobe_ , though it might sound surprising to most folks since Wizzrobes rarely appear to take anything seriously with their ringing laughs. All real Wizzrobes shed their names, limit their individuality, commit themselves fully to magic, and swear not to touch any other types of magic besides the one that they'd decided to specialize in. The last rule had been made much more lenient where Fire Wizzrobes occasionally shared knowledge with the Ice Wizzrobes and vice versa, but it was still rare and was still frowned upon. A Wizzrobe who failed to follow the laws of the  _Guild_  was considered renegade and blacklisted.

And being blacklisted was a serious and often fatal deal.

A blue Ice Wizzrobe was the first to break the humorous mood. "We're only joking about letting Argorok drown, of course," the bird mask bobbed towards Opal. The other two Ice Wizzrobes nodded in agreement while the Fire Wizzrobes shook their heads as though to disagree. The mysterious Thistle colored Wizzrobe simply stared at the sky and muttered while tracing his fingers across the clouds in an eccentric fashion.

The three Ice Wizzrobes raised their arms and chanted a spell simultaneously. Blue fire appeared in the palm of their hands, and it froze the water in a straight path when the sorcerers shot the fire towards the middle of the lake. One of the Ice Wizzrobes snapped his fingers at the Thistle Wizzrobe. "Hey Summoner Wizzrobe. Give us some Floor Masters."

"Feh." The lone Thistle Wizzrobe shrugged, taking a moment to look away from his progress of following the clouds. He summoned a dark purple cloud just above the ice on the lake. From within the cloud, there was a popping noise and three large, floating hands lowered onto the ice until their shadows appeared to latch onto the surface. They waved, and the Wizzrobe waved back. "There should be a large lizard fellow drowning in the lake. He might already be bloated with water by now. Find him please!" The Thistle Wizzrobe laughed. "Take your time, there's no rush!"

"Lord Ganon would like you to hurry," Opal cut in as coldly as the ice on the lake.

The summoning specialist scoffed, as did the other Wizzrobes. "What's a mere possessed puppet like you doing, ordering us about? You apparently drag us into this era, wherever this is, so we can revive failures like that Argorok? The 'elite' ore-class thinks too highly of themselves."

"You are here to serve the Dark King, and you were revived under his request."

The Ice Wizzrobes suddenly cheered when the Floor Masters returned with a battered, half-drowned dragon from the bottom of the lake. The Fire Wizzrobes set to work trying to warm Argorok up with fire to revive him, while the Thistle Wizzrobe clapped briefly before turning back to Opal. "Then surely he should be ordering us, not you? Though since you're like his proxy because you're possessed, I suppose he's the one who's really bossing us around." Then, the sorcerer tapped the edge of his bird mask thoughtfully. The Summoner Wizzrobe tilted his head. "I wonder how difficult possession sorcery is…"

A Fire Wizzrobe jumped into the conversation from where he was setting fire near the dragon. "You're talking like a renegade, Wizzrobe!"

"We will obliterate renegades with swift action," an Ice Wizzrobe giggled.

"Of course, how silly of me. Guild rules."

The Wizzrobes giggled amongst themselves. Then, one of the Fire Wizzrobe's giggles stopped as suddenly as they'd come when it noticed something about the dragon it was trying to revive. "Uh oh. Now that won't do…"

"What's that?"

"Look at his wing. He's not going to be able to fly." The red robed Wizzrobe pointed at Argorok's left wing. It was bent hideously out of shape, and most of it had been torn off savagely. Though the dragon might live, there was no way he was going to be able to fly again on his own.

Opal stared at the unconscious dragon for some time. Argorok's breath was slowly returning in ragged, labored gasps that still rattled a little from the water he had inhaled. Some parts of his armor were bent out of shape from a heavy impact as well. Even though they had managed to recover him from the depths of the lake, it was going to take a while for him to make a full recovery. "I will report this to Lord Ganon."

"Ah ah! Not so fast." A tutting noise stopped her, and she turned to see that it was the lone summoner Wizzrobe. She could just imagine the grin from behind the bird mask, and she could see his green eyes twinkling deviously. "This is a wonderful opportunity for all of us. Isn't that right, Wizzrobes?"

The possessed girl stared blankly at the group of seven who were circled around the wheezing dragon almost predatorily. The Wizzrobes gathered exchanged looks with each other, and then fell into a fit of eerie laughter. The Thistle Wizzrobe waved her off with a few knowing nods.

"Tell the King that we'll take good care of Master Argorok. Soon he will have a marvelous ally. It will be wonderful!"

"Grand!"

"Fantastic!"

"Incredible!"

"Hilarious!"

"Don't tell him it will be hilarious," the Thistle Wizzrobe interrupted. He cracked a grin, "even though that might very well be true." The Wizzrobe waved his sleeves hastily, "but again, don't tell him that. Anyways, off you go! Ta ta!" The summoner Wizzrobe hurried the possessed girl away. Once she was out of sight, he whirled around with a sweep of his robes.

"Well now my sorcerous brethren, I would like to embark on a project revive Master Argorok as a living weapon  _under our complete control_. Any objections?"

The chuckles of the easily amused Wizzrobes echoed over the lake. There were no objections. As long as, one of them reminded, they weren't going to have to do anything renegade.

The Thistle Wizzrobe tilted his head so that it looked as though his bird mask was smiling crookedly. "I'll take full responsibility. You can boil me alive once this is done if I break any Guild Laws."

The Wizzrobes laughed again at their comrade's comment, and even the Summoner Wizzrobe joined them though his words had been serious. The world was so full of amusement if you just changed the way you looked at things. Life and Death was full of chuckles for the good-humored Wizzrobes.


	22. The Last Test

"O Hero of Twilight, you have passed the holy sword's first test. Now you must prove yourself as the true wielder of the Triforce of Courage with its final challenge."

Link and Vaati had returned to the Temple of Time once more. The Light Spirits had reappeared as soon as Link had walked in front of the Master Sword's resting place, the Pedestal of Time. Vaati remained hidden behind the shadows of the battered walls of the Sacred Grove. He and Link had barely exchanged words to each other since they'd returned from the City in the Sky.

Link took a deep breath, holding the Master Sword out in front of him. He didn't  _want_  to be wasting time clearing challenges, but he had no other choice. He needed the sword's help. "I'll do it. To save Hyrule, I have to."

One of the glowing orbs of light drifted closer until Link could see its shape as a graceful serpent. The spirit nodded her head once in sympathy of what Link was going to have to go through. " _The sword will test your courage, strength, and,"_ it paused, " _trust._ "

Link started. What did the spirit mean by trust? They couldn't have known that Vaati was…

" _We know of your presence, Sorcerer of Winds. Did you think you could hide from us?"_

Link turned his head around slowly to see Vaati scowling from the spirits' recognition of his presence. The sorcerer stiffened, but he didn't budge. All this time he had wished someone would recognize his power, but now that his wish was granted, he wasn't sure he had made the right one. Both he and Link held their breaths, trying to anticipate what the spirits would do to him.

An owl-like light spirit surprised them by dismissing the two on their quest. " _No matter,"_ the spirit spoke gently,  _"you must enter the Temple of Time. Tread carefully, the sword's final test will prove to be formidable._ " The sound of ancient, stone doors grinding open at the entrance of the Sacred Grove could be heard as soon as the owl spirit had spoken. Then, it flapped its brilliant wings once as the rest of the light spirits vanished with it. Its voice echoed in the forest.

" _O Hero of Twilight, O Sorcerer of Winds, may the blessings of the goddesses protect you."_

XXXXXXXXX

"I don't believe in the blessings of goddesses," Vaati tossed his head after he was sure the spirits were completely gone, "and we're probably going to fail the third criteria."

Link walked next to Vaati as they made their way to the direction of the temple entrance. "What, you mean the 'testing trust' part?"

The wind mage huffed and waved his hands in front of him, making the point that what he was saying was obvious. "Think about it," he scoffed, "I hate working with you. I want to make your life as difficult as possible for everything you've done to me. I'm not going to willingly work with you."

Link sighed. "Look, the less hindrances you cause, the faster we'll be done with this. The faster we finish, the better it will be for both of us. Don't be stupid and help me, all right?"

Vaati snorted, which Link assumed was the best answer he was going to get. Then, Link looked over when he noticed Vaati had hung his head, thinking of something.

After some time Vaati muttered, barely audible. "I wonder why those spirits didn't try to get rid of me if they knew who I was."

Link shrugged. "I was wondering about that, too." He glanced at Vaati again, who appeared to be deeply disturbed. It wasn't like his usual, snippety arrogant character and it made Link uncomfortable to see something he considered abnormal. In a half-hearted attempt to get Vaati to stop looking so troubled and more in character, Link joked, "Maybe they're not that powerful, considering they always need someone to 'do their dirty work for them' as you described before."

Vaati shook his head. He began to twirl his boomerang absentmindedly. "I don't know," he said quietly. "Given my current state, they could probably wipe me out if they wanted to…"

Link nearly tripped over himself. Regaining his composure, he stared at the sorcerer in shock. "That was the first time you actually admitted inferiority to something. Are you feeling all right?"

Vaati's head snapped up and he snarled. "I did not. I could destroy them all if I was my old self. I just know that I shouldn't fool myself by not acknowledging that I'm totally pathetic right now."

"Someone's angsty."

"Quiet, I know how to be realistic," Vaati growled.

Link watched him carefully, wondering what it was that seemed to have gotten the mage more bitter than usual. It probably had something to do with the spirits. Before Link could say anything more, the sorcerer hurried up the moss-covered stairs and faced the Door of Time.

"Hurry up. Let's get this over with quickly and show that sword of yours we're capable of handling anything it decides to throw at us."

"Work together with me, okay? No trying to kill me or passively watch me get killed."

Vaati sneered, and then disappeared through the door. "I'll suffer the noose of Hyrule before I do that."

Link smiled a little even as Vaati spoke. He didn't know if Vaati had noticed it himself, but the sorcerer had talked of "we" and "us." Vaati might not want to admit it, but for now they were a team; an effective one, too, even though they were dysfunctional at times. Link wasn't too worried about the sword's third criteria.

It was the other two that worried him more.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"I am ssssorry Lord Ganon! I underesssstimated the Hero and – "

"What did I say earlier, Argorok? Do not anger me further with your dismal groveling."

"I - ! Hssss yessss ssssir." The dragon hung his head and coiled away from the throne where his lord sat, thinking. Argorok shamefully huddled in the corner of the throne room of Hyrule Castle where the Seven Wizzrobes, by the order of Ganondorf, had brought him. Argorok had expected the dark tyrant to yell and even severely punish him for failing, but instead received a very long, interminable glare the moment he had been summoned to the throne room.

In a sense, Argorok preferred immediate punishment instead of the frigid glare. It gave him too much time to think of all the horrible things Ganondorf could think of doing to punish him. He even wondered if the King had revived him from certain death just so he could be placed in this terrifying position.

Argorok waved his head from side to side, trying to keep from fidgeting. The last time he started fidgeting, he had knocked things over with his tail and that had made the Dark King upset. He clicked his claws on the floor, he shook his head, and then clicked his claws some more.

"Click clack, click clack… kehehehe."

Argorok's head snapped abruptly towards the sound of mocking laugher just beneath his injured wing. Three Wizzrobes – a red one, a blue one, and the thistle one – were chattering away in whispered conversation and laughing occasionally as they glanced up at the dragon. Argorok growled in warning at the sorcerers with the bird masks. Instead of falling silent, however, the Wizzrobes merely laughed even more. The two Fire Wizzrobes and two Ice Wizzrobes standing by the entrance of the throne room craned their necks to see what their comrades over by the dragon were giggling about.

"Do not think I won't bite your headssss off, inferiorssss," the dragon hissed.

"Indeed, I recommend you bite our heads instead of our legs," the thistle colored Summoner Wizzrobe nodded in agreement. "We would prefer a quick death instead of having to deal with dragging ourselves across the floor with our arms, our innards trailing behind us pathetically, from having our legs bitten off."

The Ice Wizzrobe nudged the Fire Wizzrobe next to him. "When that happens, make sure you burn our wounds closed."

"No no no, Ice Wizzrobe, you have it all wrong! It will be your job to freeze us so we will no longer feel any pain," the Fire Wizzrobe objected.

The dragon snarled in frustration as the three Wizzrobes entered into a longwinded debate on what to do if they had their legs eaten by it. Argorok grinded his teeth together in anger at his inability to do anything against the blasted magic specialists. Upon regaining consciousness, the dragon had discovered that the only way he could move as he wished was if he worked together with the Seven Wizzrobes. His left wing was rendered completely useless, and it had become so disfigured that it would never heal properly. They would help him fly the skies again with their magic, but he discovered to his horror that he would never be able to fly without their help ever again.

Argorok had no choice but to obey the Wizzrobes' commands. At the moment they also listened to Lord Ganondorf, but the dragon was wary of them. He didn't like the way they giggled behind their masks, and he highly doubted that they were truly loyal to the Dark King like he was. The Wizzrobes hadn't yet committed themselves to Lord Ganondorf's cause like he had done, and because of this he didn't like them.

Not. One. Bit.

"So did you hear about Lord Vaati?" Argorok heard the Ice Wizzrobe standing by his wing whisper to the other two.

The dragon growled contemptuously.  _They sssstill refer to him assss "Lord Vaati…"_ He listened to their gossip irritably.

The Fire Wizzrobe nodded almost excitedly. "Yes! Apparently he's here."

"Pretty weak now, according to Lord Ganon."

"Weak. Weak indeed. He can't use magic." The thistle one agreed.

"You're joking!" the Fire Wizzrobe perked up in surprise.

"Since when do I joke?"

"Ich, you're being sarcastic."

"Am I? I couldn't tell."

The blue Wizzrobe laughed along. "Kehaha! Either way, it's true. He can't cast a single spell."

"Shame." The Fire Wizzrobe shook his head, deflated.

The Thistle Wizzrobe agreed. "Such a shame. Do you remember how he could cast many different kinds of powerful spells? We couldn't dream of achieving his greatness."

The Ice Wizzrobe turned his beaked mask towards the Thistle Wizzrobe critically. "You sound almost envious of him."

The Thistle Wizzrobe continued on, pretending not to have heard the Ice Wizzrobe. He boldly stalked off away from Argorok and took a few steps closer to Princess Zelda chained to the wall. The Princess looked up slightly as she noticed the Wizzrobe looking at her. Zelda narrowed her eyes, but said nothing.

The Thistle Wizzrobe waved his arms widely. "Remember how great he was?" he said loudly, paying no attention to how Argorok winced fearfully from anticipating Ganondorf's wrath. After all, the King could hear the eccentric Wizzrobe's every word. Instead of punishing him, however, Ganondorf merely watched with a cold stare; he was somewhat curious about what the magic users thought of the troublesome sorcerer who had supposedly tried to take over Hyrule before him.

The Thistle Wizzrobe continued. "He would say that wonderful phrase, 'To Stone With You,' and the Princess of Hyrule would be turned to stone."

There were shocked gasps. It wasn't shock from the Wizzrobe's narrative, however. Everyone was staring at Princess Zelda who was now encased in magical ice.

The offending Wizzrobe paused, and then rubbed his bird mask. "Er… perhaps in this case I should say 'turned to ice.'" He took a cautious glance at Ganondorf, and then hurriedly shuffled back next to Argorok when he noticed the Dark King looking at him with an expression he couldn't tell was good or bad. The Thistle Wizzrobe giggled once he was back with the other two. "Oops." He shuffled behind the other two, away from Ganondorf.

The Fire Wizzrobe snickered with him, but the Ice Wizzrobe wasn't amused. "Summoner, you just casted an Ice elemental. You must remember you are no longer an Ice Wizzrobe."

Behind the toucan mask, the Thistle Wizzrobe appeared to make a face. "Oh, don't be such a bore. Besides, Lord Vaati tried many different kinds of sorcery and he turned out better than us."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that maybe having freedom over various spells is better than being restricted to one."

"Oh not this argument again, Summoner! You know very well the Guild rules about dabbling in multiple elementals. And Lord Vaati did not try many kinds of sorcery – he performed variations on Wind elementals."

"And the Guild was flexible when it came to me switching from Ice to Fire to Summons," the Thistle Wizzrobe replied flatly.

"You're so indecisive," the Fire Wizzrobe giggled.

The Ice Wizzrobe continued stubbornly. "There's a reason why those rules existed in the first place. Don't forget."

"Oh I know," the Summoner Wizzrobe sounded like he was pouting, though it was hard to tell since his mask hid his face. "It's because sorcerers have trouble controlling multiple elemental spells. They don't have the mental capacity to handle more than one."

"You're suicidal," the Fire Wizzrobe laughed, "to know that and still be interested in that stuff."

"And suicidal to consider breaking Guild Law," the Ice Wizzrobe sniffed. Then, he chuckled, unable to stay upset for long.

The Thistle Wizzrobe shrugged with a smile. "But what if that wasn't entirely true? What if that was just… a cover-up story for a different reason? To keep us from trying other elemental spells?"

"Do you  _want_  us to give you a big button that says 'I'm a Renegade?'"

"Only if it's a pretty button."

Ganondorf's booming voice interrupted the Wizzrobes' chatter. They immediately snapped to attention. Well, at least they tried to; it took them a few tries to stop sniggering. Ganondorf slammed his fist onto the throne. "You fools are wasting time idling. If you have nothing better to do then go stand watch outside the castle for intruders."

Argorok raised his head at the sound of his master's voice. He growled accusingly at the frozen Princess Zelda – the handiwork of the Thistle Wizzrobe. "What of the princessss?" He hoped Lord Ganon would punish the Wizzrobes for being so inconsiderate of his lordship's presence.

The dragon was disappointed, however, when Ganondorf merely glanced momentarily at the princess encased in ice, and shrugged. "Leave her as she is. I was beginning to grow tired of her presence." Ganondorf gave all of them a glare that made even the giggly Wizzrobes shut up for good. "Now go, before I decide I'm bored of just sitting here." He stressed the last three words, implying they would find themselves in a world of pain if they didn't get out of his sight.

The Wizzrobes bowed, and warped out of the throne room. Argorok was warped away with them as well, leaving only the Dark King, two Darknuts on guard, and a frozen princess behind them.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Color faded away from the world as they stepped through the Door of Time and entered the past. The Sacred Grove stood standing in its full glory; high stained glass windows framed the marble walls and everything gleamed with a perfect polish.

"This is the past…" Link wondered aloud, "does it mean that if we leave the Sacred Grove now, we'll find ourselves back closer to our time?"

Vaati traced his fingers over a statue. Monochrome light flickered through the stained glass onto the marble. "I don't think so," he said after a while. "We're in the past, but this one appears to be an alternate reality of our past."

Link scratched his head. "Explain please?"

The wind mage knocked the stone, thinking. He paused momentarily when the statue appeared to go blurry for a split second before solidifying again. "This is just a mockery of the past Sacred Grove – an illusion the sword created to test us." He looked around the grove. There was nowhere else to go besides back out the door or towards the Pedestal of Time that was sitting at the other end. "We probably won't be able to leave the Sacred Grove even if we tried."

Link nodded, and made his way towards the Master Sword's resting place. "I wonder what the test is. There's nothing here."

As though to answer his thoughts, he suddenly felt the Master Sword give a slight, impatient tug towards the Pedestal. It wasn't actually a physical tug, per se, but more of a strong feeling of needing to walk towards the pedestal.

"All right then… I guess I'll follow the sword."

Vaati gave a small grin. "And you thought I was crazy when I thought my boomerang could speak."

Link stood in front of the Pedestal of Time, unsure of what to do next. He decided to put the sword back into its stand; it was the only thing he could think of. "Whoa!"

Transparent blue stairs appeared and the wall in front of him disappeared to reveal a corridor. The flash of color was refreshing to the black-and-white world.

Vaati frowned grudgingly at where the stairs led. "The Temple of Time," he grumbled sourly. It was strikingly similar to the Four Swords Temple where they always imprisoned him, and even had an atmosphere that was familiar. "I might become nostalgic," he muttered. With tight shoulders, he quickly stomped up the steps as though eager to get the challenge over with. Link followed him into the legendary temple before he lost sight of him.

Once inside, they found themselves in a spacious marble room dominated by a large, central bell. There was a door beyond it and staircases spiraling up along the Eastern wall leading to a chained door. Link approached the door beyond the bell, but found it shut tightly. "It's locked."

Vaati, meanwhile, was investigating an empty space next to the jammed door. He made a mental note of it before moving over to check the bell. He squinted at the symbols around the bell that he was sure he'd seen before. "Hey Link? Remember that white rod you had? The one we had no idea what its purpose was?"

Link lit the two torches in the room, causing a treasure chest to appear out of thin air with an eerie melody. He set to work opening the chest with one hand while taking out the Dominion Rod from his inventory with the other. "What, this thing?"

"Yeah." Vaati motioned for Link to hand it over. "I have a feeling we'll find some use for it in this dungeon. Let me see it."

Link tossed it over to the mage and proceeded to take out a key from the treasure chest. "Why do you think we'll use the rod in this place?"

"Some magical objects only work in certain locations," he explained. Vaati brought the Dominion Rod over to the bell and stood beneath it. He smiled satisfactorily when both the rod and the bell began to glow a faint green. Looking down, green rings also began to glow beneath his feet. "I'm not sure wh –"

"Vaati! Get back!" Link shouted as the bell moved down over the mage. He was too late, and Vaati disappeared beneath the bell. When the bell raised itself again, Link was met with a worrisome sight.

He gasped.

The wind mage was gone.

XXXXXXXXX

" – what it does." Vaati blinked. Just a few seconds ago, he had been in the same chamber as Link. Now, he was in a dim room with stained glass all around the circular walls. "Oh. I see…"

He stood in place for a few seconds to let his eyes adjust to the dark room. Then, once he could see a little more clearly, he cautiously stepped out from beneath the bell. The Dominion Rod had warped him to a different place in the dungeon. Not liking the idea of being alone in an unquestionably hostile dungeon while he still couldn't use magic, Vaati decided he wanted to go back to the first chamber. He tried waving the rod at the bell again to see if he could warp back.

Nothing.

"Great," Vaati said under his breath. His voice sounded uncomfortably loud in the spacious, quiet room. There was one door to the chamber that led outside, but steel bars blocked it. Vaati became increasingly anxious about his situation. Steel bars usually meant two things: it was to keep something out, or to trap something in.

And usually that something wasn't a good thing for whoever found himself on the same side as it.

Vaati's hypersensitive senses imagined a presence on the far side of the room. Tensing, he suspected something watching him carefully, judging and analyzing his every move.

"Show yourself, I know you're here," the mage hissed between his teeth. His eyes darted towards the shadows across the room. Armor clanked ominously on the marble floor, and Vaati paled as the footsteps neared.

A full-armored figure melted out of the shadows, revealing a formidable black knight that presented itself with confidence and power. "Hero of Legend, I challenge you to a duel. Win, and you will come one step closer to proving your worth to the Master Sword. Lose," Vaati backed away from the approaching figure as it drew an enormous double-edged sword, "and you will die."

Vaati felt his back press against the cool wall. His palms were damp with sweat even though the shaded room was a little cold. The sorcerer recognized his opponent; he had ordered some of them to stop Link during his first reign. He also knew they were one of the most formidable monsters he had ever commanded. They were reliable, masters at using various types of swords, and cunning in their fighting. Merciless, they fought with a no-nonsense style designed to kill.

It was the worst monster he could have encountered in his current state.

"Darknut," he choked.


	23. Desperate Fight

Darknut. A frighteningly powerful monster that he knew, personally, gave even Link some problems in defeating it. In his current state, Vaati was aware that he would be lucky to last more than half a minute sparring with the Darknut. He didn't even have a sword! All he had was a boomerang and a useless rod that had gotten him into this mess.

How was he supposed to du-

… Wait. Wait, wait, wait.

"Hold, hold. I'm not the Hero of Legend. You're challenging the wrong person," Vaati held up his hands defensively and said in the calmest voice he could muster. It came out in a tremor.

The Darknut hesitated, and Vaati almost smiled in relief until the knight brandished his sword one more and moved toward the mage in slow, deliberate steps. Vaati's fists clenched together tightly around the Dominion Rod.

"What? Why do you still come? You have no business with me, so I suggest you leave me alone." Nervousness began to creep into his voice again, but out of habit he maintained his lofty posture. At the same time, he broke out in cold sweat with the Darknut's next words.

"If you are not the Hero of Legend, you are an intruder. Either way, I will fight whoever finds himself in my chamber. Prepare yourself."

XXXXXXXXX

Link stared at the empty space where the wind mage had been for several minutes, his brain not really registering the fact that they were now separated inside a formidable dungeon. He'd spent so much time stuck together with Vaati that it felt strange to be alone. Everything was just too quiet.

His face took on a stern expression, and then he made up his mind to go through the dungeon. It was taking too long for Vaati to reappear, and he determined that whatever had happened to him, the wind mage could no longer come back the way he'd left. Vaati had probably activated a warp that led to a different area of the dungeon: the faster Link was in going through the Temple of Time, the higher the chances he had of bumping into the troublesome sorcerer.

A little fretfully, Link ran up the narrow corridors, occasionally filled with keese.

 _There's really nothing I can do except keep moving through the dungeon_ , Link told himself as he ran on. Then, he gave a small laugh.  _Why am I even worried about him, anyway? It's not like he was anything other than trouble. The only reason why I decided to bring him along was because Hyrule wanted to see him hanged, and I couldn't risk letting him go on his own only to have him survive._

He shook his head.  _Why should I be worried? He's still a dangerous criminal – isn't he better off dead?_

XXXXXXXXXX

The wind mage was faster than the heavily armored knight, and that was the only advantage he had to keep himself alive for as long as possible. Vaati ran around the perimeter of the room to prevent the Darknut from crushing him with the sword. It was stupid, he had to admit. If he kept this up for another hour he would be too tired to even defend himself; the end result would be the same. He wasn't took keen on dying at the immediate moment, however, so he kept running anyway.

Vaati stopped to catch his breath and he glanced behind him to see the Darknut advancing slowly. The knight's armor clanked in an ominous pace, and the monster appeared to recognize that the sorcerer was going to run out of energy sooner or later. Vaati needed to find a way to defeat the knight if he wanted to escape this room, but all he had was a boomerang and a useless rod. What to do?

 _Okay,_ he thought as he grabbed the Gale boomerang,  _if this doesn't work I'm back to running._

XXXXXXXXXXXX

 _Why am I assuming Vaati will die as soon as he meets a monster anyway?_ Link's mental debate continued as he dashed up the stairs two at a time.  _I made fun of him for being defenseless when I first found him, but he's proven to be capable of holding his ground against powerful monsters._

He was forced to a halt when he saw a section of the stairs had collapsed below. Link thought about how to proceed while trying not to be too obsessed with his preoccupation with the fate of the troublesome sorcerer.  _I mean, he actually helped out in defeating Diababa and managed to scare Argorok away that one time._

Link noticed strange grooves running alongside the wall. They looked familiar, and they brought to mind something he'd seen in his inventory earlier. He rummaged around his bag until he came upon the Spinner, the top-like item that had stumped him and Vaati at Telma's bar. Link spun it a few times and put it against the grooves; they connected with a loud click.

 _That solves another mystery._ He hopped on and continued his way up the wall using the Spinner. Upon reaching the top, he arrived at a central cog that could move up or down the chamber. Referencing his map he'd found earlier, he learned that he should make his way towards the fourth floor.

Link glanced over the edge, peering at a circular pen on the first floor.  _Yeah… so Vaati can take care of himself, and if not there's no problem if he dies, right?_ he told himself, though somewhat unconvincingly. He tried not to think too much about it, and pulled the lever that sent the platform down to the first floor: instead, he tried to think of what he might find at the bottom.

XXXXXXXXXX

Vaati was running again. The Darknut's sword had been too heavy to blow out of its hand, and anything else had been blocked by its shield. He'd run out of ideas, so all he could do was run and hope to survive for just another minute longer. The sorcerer glanced behind him at the knight.  _Maybe I can do something about the armor._

He had noticed before that the Darknut's armor was fitted in place by several thick cords that were tied behind its back. As long as Vaati could quickly run behind it and cut the cords, the armor should come falling down. It was worth a shot – he couldn't think of anything else.

Vaati turned around and bravely waited for the dark knight to approach.

"So you've finally decided to stop running like a coward," the Darknut jeered. Approaching the wind mage, it brought up its sword and swung it down on Vaati. The knight was obviously playing with him; it purposely missed the mage.

Vaati didn't waste the chance that was given to him. He dashed around to the back of the monster and quickly slashed away at the bands that held the armor together with the blades of his boomerang. As the metal clattered onto the floor around the surprised knight, Vaati dashed away.

"Ha, where did all your defenses go?" Vaati yelled over his back as he ran away to safety. He squeaked and ducked as a double-edged sword flew inches above his hat and impaled the wall behind him. Bits of rock flew at his face from the impact, and there was a soft  _whummmmmm_  as the sword wobbled in the wall. "Um…?" he uttered nervously.

The Darknut now crouched with a slender, long blade. No longer inhibited by its heavy armor, its movements were lithe and agile. Vaati wasn't sure he could outrun the Darknut anymore.

The knight's voice dripped with menace, "Good. So you managed to remove my armor. Let's begin round two."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Link's breath came out in short gasps as he rested with his head against the central cogwheel. He was back on the fourth floor, far away from the pen.

"Din's fire, I hate this sword," Link muttered. The pen had held hundreds of white spiders; apparently the Master Sword had taken his fear of spiders into account when it had designed the final test. "And all I got for my trouble was a dumb stone weight," he said as he eyed an onyx statuette with disgust. He waited a few more minutes until his breathing had steadied, and then stood up to go to the next part of the dungeon.

_So the spirits were right in that the sword would design tests that would challenge us. But what about this whole issue of testing trust? It's not like we're working together right now since we're separated._

Link picked up the statuette and wandered around on the fourth floor until he discovered it could be used on a floor switch. He placed it on the switch, which gave him access to the next room.  _I feel uneasy – I wish I knew how the sword intends to test trust, and why that even matters…_

The next room was filled with powerful Armos statues that glowed blue when he stepped inside. He quickly defeated them by shattering the crystals that were set onto their backs and he collected another key that fell onto the floor upon their defeat. The key opened a door leading to the fourth floor of the dungeon.

A veteran of dungeon crawls, Link was able to clear all the puzzles and obstacles in the room to make it to the succeeding doors. Halfway through, he heard metallic footsteps following him. The hero whirled around to come face to face with a heavily armored lizard monster. Its breath fogged on the silver-plating of its helm. It appeared much more menacing than its skull-helmed counterparts Link and Vaati had encountered when they'd first arrived in this era.

Link sighed. This might be a lengthy fight, and "lengthy" wasn't something he could afford at a time like this.

XXXXXXXXX

"Ugh…" Vaati groaned, his vision flickering before him. There was something sticky and warm running down his cheek, and when he gingerly brought his fingers up to his face he saw that it was blood. Blood. He couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten so beaten up by something that he'd bled. He winced as a bolt of pain shot through his skull. His head throbbed from the impact it had suffered from slamming into the wall.

As Vaati struggled to get up, another kick sent him rolling across the floor and holding his stomach. He coughed violently, gasping for breath as the wind was knocked out of him. He steadied himself on his hands and knees – he saw blood dripping onto the polished white stone as it dripped from the corner of his lips now painted a soft red.

Vaati tried to look up at his attacker and was dismayed to find not one, but four. His vision was growing worse. His ears pricked at the sound of footsteps approaching him and he feebly sent his boomerang flying towards what he hoped was the Darknut. All that returned was a mocking laugh; the boomerang disappeared into the blurry, unfocused expanse.

"I was hoping you'd present more of a challenge. You hold the sacred Dominion Rod, and yet you turn out to be a pathetic coward."

A sharp pain from his left arm. Vaati howled as the knight's sword dug into his arm and pinned him in place.

"I do not like to keep my victims in pain for too long. I shall put you out of your misery. Any last words?"

XXXXXXXXXX

Link gingerly dabbed his right cheek where the armored lizard had managed to cut him. It had been pretty powerful, and Link began to worry for the mage. If Vaati had encountered something like that, he'd probably be dead or close to dying right now. Link quickened his pace through the dungeon. While it was true that he should have no qualms of letting someone like Vaati meet his end in this dungeon, it just felt wrong to him. He couldn't explain it well, but they'd been working together for a while now and he didn't like the idea of letting Vaati die.

Of letting his travelling partner die.

And on top of that, Vaati had even saved his life a few times during their adventure. Granted it was probably out of self-interest, but Link didn't like the idea of owing the sorcerer anything. He couldn't let Vaati die. Not now. Not after all of this.

Link glanced at the dungeon map again. It told him that he was close to a dead-end; a circular room with only one door to go in our out. He assumed it was where he would have to fight one of the dungeon's more powerful monsters to receive something important – that's how dungeons were almost always designed.

It was worrying he hadn't bumped into Vaati all this time. As Link passed the white pillars and gold leafed designs of the resplendent temple, he wondered what the mage was doing now.

XXXXXXXXXX

Even though he was battling against the pain and fatigue, Vaati managed to clench his teeth into an angry snarl.  _Last words? LAST WORDS? Who does that knight take me for?_

"It's not over until I die, you fool." Vaati ignored his left arm that was stabbed into place by the Darknut's sword like an insect in an entomology collection. He struggled to arm himself with the Dominion Rod as the boomerang had not returned. His breath came in ragged gasps. "Not yet… not until… I've breathed my last."

He heard the Darknut's chuckle from somewhere above him. The sword was wrenched out of his arm and hot blood oozed across his tunic from the wound. "Very well. I won't keep you waiting."

Vaati braced himself for the Darknut to come at him. Gripping the Dominion Rod, he stood up shakily to face his attacker. He wasn't going to go down begging for mercy. He wasn't going to go down sitting obediently like cattle waiting to be slaughtered.

The weakened sorcerer raised the Dominion Rod over his shoulder, and he ignored the knight's amused chortles. It was then the mage noticed the rod glowing faintly in the darkness, reacting to a bulky statue that stood sentinel behind him.  _Did I imagine it?_ His eyes caught the statue shift slightly as he took an unsteady step backwards.

The Darknut lunged with the sword aimed at Vaati's throat. At the same time, Vaati made a last ditch effort to fight back and swung the Dominion Rod downwards with all his might.

_Crack!_

"Ha… ha… ha," Vaati laughed weakly as he saw the Darknut fall to the floor. The knight crashed onto the floor, its head dented sickeningly from the enormous hammer that had crushed it. Miraculously, the Dominion Rod had caused the statue behind Vaati to swing its hammer down onto the advancing knight.

"Ahaha," Vaati laughed a little louder now, his tense muscles relaxing at once. He dropped the Dominion Rod with a clatter and he slid down along the wall from his knees giving in. His hands clutched his stomach, and he began to laugh even more when he noticed a mortal gash in his stomach. The Darknut had missed his throat, but it had managed to slash his torso as it fell. He slowly began to be engulfed into a crimson pool as he lost a fatal amount of blood.

"Haha. Ahahaha! I did it… I… won…" It hurt to laugh, but everything seemed hilarious now. There was so much pain that he didn't care much about anything anymore. "Haha… Did you see that, my old  _master_? No magic… none… at all."

Vaati collapsed onto the floor as he held his bleeding side, laughing.


	24. Memories Before Darkness

_I did it. Without magic. Master Ezlo, you old fool, did you see that?_ Vaati stared at the ceiling, surrounded by his own blood. The blood that had caked over on his lips cracked as he smiled slightly with bitterness.  _See, I'm not weak…_

Weak.

That was one word he had come to despise more than anything.

" _Vatee? That's such a weird name."_

" _Lookit, his hair's a funny color."_

" _And long like a girl's! Hey Vatee, why do you grow it long like that?"_

" _Can he even see anything through that hair? He's a walking mop!"_

" _Eek! Red eyes! He's got the evil eye!"_

" _Hey wait, let's play a game. We can play Monster Hunter!" We'll be the hunters, and Vatee can be the monster. Vatee, do you want to play?"_

" _Great! Run off now, we'll come and hunt you."_

Everything in the world was based on power relations. It was established as soon as one person met another, and was built on interactions shared. Power came in all different kinds; it was raw physical strength, mental capabilities, charisma, social connections, or reputation. Power meant everything. Those who didn't have power quickly succumbed to the dirty realities of the unmerciful world.

" _Awww, he's down already."_

" _Vatee, come on, monsters are supposed to be vicious. Play your part."_

" _This is boring. It's no fun hunting a weak monster."_

" _Yeah, let's go play something else. Vatee, you'd better stay away."_

Vaati hadn't cared about the other kids his age when he had still been a Minish. He'd thought that if he continued his studies with Master Ezlo, he would soon become a revered sage like him. He thought he could earn respect. That was one reason he kept his hair long; revered sages didn't have short hair…

" _Master Ezlo, can you teach me how to do magic?"_

" _What? No, you're too young, and the consequences that come with failing a spell can sometimes be dangerous. Read the books I've given you. When you finish, I might show you how to do a healing spell."_

" _But Master Ezlo, you gave me twenty volumes…"_

" _That's just how serious magic is. Go read now, I'm busy."_

Busy. Ha. All that old fart ever did was sleep. He woke up only to answer visitors, hastily pretending he had been going over ancient tomes. Vaati had been able to memorize the books so well he could recite entire chapters. He had expected some form of praise, but all the old master did was tell him he was weak. Weak.

" _Master Ezlo, I've read the books you've given me. I even read some of the ones you didn't assign! I want to learn magic."_

" _No! It's too early. You could hurt yourself. You wouldn't be able to control it. I don't want a dead boy in my arms, Vaati."_

That was when he'd realized he'd been waiting too long. Waiting for something to happen wasn't getting him anywhere. He had to take matters into his own hands if he wished to succeed, because Ezlo was never going to teach him anything. Apprentice? Son? Ha… more like servant.

Then one day, the big people had wandered close to the Minish village. There were three men and a little girl. Two of them were holding her hostage, while the third was on his knees pleading them not to hurt his little girl. Vaati had been intrigued by the two men. They had seemed so unstoppable, so unlike him.

So powerful.

He'd been enchanted by the evil in the hearts of men ever since.

Vaati could no longer feel his feet as numbness crept up along his fingertips and toes. It was becoming more difficult to breathe. Vaati turned his head to the side, and he could see his reflection in the Darknut's polished armor. The hat that had begun it all was crimson with blood, just like it had been when it had first been made. Ezlo's greatest project. The hate that could grant any wish its wearer desired.

Vaati let out a raspy laugh when he remembered the day he had changed his destiny. He had shocked his master all right; the look on the old fool's face when he had taken the hat had been priceless.

" _Oh! What a vile form you have taken!"_

" _Vile? I am a sorcerer now, and my power is beyond compare! None can stop me…"_

Some foolish, childish part of him had hoped that Ezlo would finally see that Vaati was capable of learning magic; that Ezlo would finally praise him and take him into apprenticeship. That he would accept him. It had angered him when the old man had eyed him with disdain. In Ezlo's eyes, Vaati had cheated his way towards power. He never recognized any of his hard work…

So he had turned him into a ridiculous hat. Vaati hadn't killed him because he had wanted his old master to see the show. He was going to demonstrate just how much he could do. Vaati let the old man watch in horror as he destroyed his childhood home.

" _Wait, so you're going through all this trouble to get ultimate power and you don't know why?"_

Stupid Link. Of course he knew why. With ultimate power, no one would ever be able to tell him he was weak. He would never have to live with the feeling that he was a failure.

Link. Every incarnation was as naïve and brainless as the last. The newest one was the worst yet. Link seemed to think that they were actually partners, and Vaati could see the hesitation he felt when thinking about their inevitable fight at the very end.

" _You know, sometimes I think we have the potential to make a great team…_ "

A bloody idiot. How could he possibly be unaware that Vaati intended to destroy him the moment he got his powers back? At this rate the sorcerer was going to have a laughably easy time defeating the hero. As long as he used the imbecile's hesitation to kill him to his advantage, he could defeat him easily.

Vaati's eyes fluttered. Ha. That theory rested on the assumption that he was going to get through this alive.

As he gazed at his reflection in the Darknut's armor, Vaati smiled sadly. He wished that he could have met his end under the sword of a worthy adversary instead of a regular monster. Like the hero. It would have been annoying to fall in the hands of Link  _again_ , but at the same time it would have been a fitting end.

Link.

He could have chosen to kill him when they had discovered that no one knew of his history. That stupid boy had let him tag along after all the trouble he had caused him.

Why?

Vaati struggled to stay conscious. He could feel his pulse slowing.

_Maybe… maybe Link… am I supposed to call you a friend?_

Vaati laughed out loud before he grimaced and became lost in darkness.  _Ha… what nonsense…_


	25. A Hero's Obligation

The Ice Wizzrobes and Fire Wizzrobes chattered amongst themselves on the edge of the Hyule castle walls while Argorok sulked next to them. The dragon had no choice but to go wherever they went, bound to rely on them for movement. He was essentially their hostage, so when Lord Ganon had ordered them to keep watch of the castle periphery, he had been dragged along as well. The only reason why the dragon didn't destroy them was because Lord Ganon liked them more than him.  _For now,_ Argorok thought viciously,  _once he ssssees I'm much more loyal he would change hissss mind._

Argorok swished his tail angrily, ignoring the chatter of the Wizzrobes. Looking for something to vent his frustrations, he snapped at the remaining odd-colored Wizzrobe who was sitting a few feet away from the rest of his group, dangling his legs along the edge of the castle wall in an almost childish manner. The Thistle Wizzrobe stared out at the evening horizon with a possibly pensive gaze; it was hard to tell since his mask covered his expression.

"You're the ringleader of thosssse clownssss, aren't you?" Argorok growled, snaking his neck over threateningly.

The Thistle Wizzrobe stopped dangling his legs. "Ringleader?" he asked, giving little indication that the dragon had his full attention. He continued to look at the sky, and then wilted sideways like a soaked daisy. "I'm no ringleader. A ringleader maintains respect, but me?" he waved his oversized sleeves in the air, "they treat me as a fool." There was a pause, and then the Wizzrobe laughed maniacally as he sat back up, "Kehahahaha!"

The dragon hesitated, taken aback by the completely inappropriate laughter from the Summoner Wizzrobe.

"You only think I'm a leader because I'm the only one who's different. Being different doesn't make me a leader, you know. Nor does being an attention whore, which I am. Nor does getting what I want all the time, which… you might think is what a leader achieves but that's just me being annoying." The Thistle Wizzrobe finally turned around to look at the dragon, and Argorok noticed a flicker of green, glinty eyes behind the mask. "I'm well aware I'm too much of a progressive thinker to be a real Wizzrobe. There were probably more like me, but free-thinkers like us also tend to come with an enormous sense of self-inflation that make us stand out in the wrong way; the way that will definitely get you killed in the Guild." The Thistle Wizzrobe snickered, again completely inappropriate to the context of the conversation. "Killed!"

"Then why have they let you live?" Argorok growled quietly between his teeth. He didn't really know why he felt obligated to speak conspiratorially with the odd Wizzrobe instead of giving him away to the others who continued to chatter some feet away. It was complete moblinshit that he wasn't the one directing things.

The Summoner Wizzrobe threw back his head and laughed heartily. "Kehaha! Well that's because I'm too silly to be a real nuisance." He made a motion of a leash around his neck. "They have me under a leash, and frankly I don't mind. What's a foolish Wizzrobe like me going to do to anybody?" His chuckles chimed like bells, and he made a swift change in motion so that the 'leash-around-neck' became a 'noose-around-neck.'

Argorok didn't say anything and swished his tail once. The dragon got the sense that this Wizzrobe was a few bolts short of sanity.

"My only goal in life is to have as much fun as I can," the Thistle Wizzrobe snickered, "and now that Lord Vaati is here, I'm sure there will be much fun and giggles."

That attitude struck a nerve with the dragon. "Thissss issssn't a game, you ungrateful robe!" Argorok snarled.

"What's life without some fun?"

"Life issssn't alwayssss about fun!"

"Of course it is," the Thistle Wizzrobe replied matter-of-factly.

An Ice Wizzrobe hovered over to see what Argorok was so agitated about. The Wizzrobe's blue twin tapped his foot impatiently. "Leave him alone, Summoner."

"I was simply telling him he should lighten up," the Thistle Wizzrobe replied indignantly.

The Ice Wizzrobe shrugged, his robes flopping against his sides. "While I agree with you, there  _is_  such a thing as being excessively flippant about… everything."

"Hmm?" the Summoner tilted his head innocently.

"You're the only one who doesn't take the Guild Laws as seriously as you should." The Ice Wizzrobe shrugged again and shuffled back to the rest of his group. "The thing we're trying with Master Argorok… we came to a conclusion that we are definitely breaking Guild Law. You know what that means."

The Thistle Wizzrobe laughed. "We are as good as dead," he answered. Then, "Hey, you decided without me?"

The Ice Wizzrobe continued lightly, ignoring him. "And since you claimed you'll take full responsibility, you'll shoulder all of our punishments."

The Thistle Wizzrobe laughed even more, clutching his sides and leaning against an uncomfortable Argorok for support. "Bastards!" he wheezed, trying to catch his breath and wiping tears behind his mask, "Kehehehe – cough –  _I can't breathe_ – snkkk ahaha!"

The Ice Wizzrobe laughed with him for a minute, and then went back to talking with the others. Argorok frowned, taken aback by the whole exchange.  _Weirdosssss_ , he muttered to himself. Even though it had nothing to do with the dragon, Argorok was slightly irritated by how carelessly the Thistle Wizzrobe was gambling his life for one sorcery project. It annoyed him even more to see that the Summoner thought the situation was hilarious, when it shouldn't have been. It didn't make sense, and the dragon didn't like it when things didn't make sense. He shook the little robe away from his claw in disgust. "Why are you laughing about thissss?" he hissed. "You jusssst ssssigned your death ssssentence!"

"I'm laughing because it's funny," the Wizzrobe gasped between breaths, his hands on his knees. "Duhs." He fell into another fit of giggles.

"Death issss not funny!" Argorok snarled exasperatedly.

The dragon growled when the Thistle Wizzrobe suddenly grabbed him by his lower fangs and pulled him closer. The Wizzrobe didn't say anything, but he was no longer laughing. He stared at the dragon with an inhuman, mesmerizing gaze from the depths of his silly bird mask. Argorok was a powerful monster – one of the most powerful ones in existence – but that soulless look devoid of warmth gave him chills. After several seconds, the Thistle Wizzrobe let him go and gave a small snicker; the amused chuckles were the complete antithesis of the sorcerer's earlier expression. It made Argorok wonder if he'd imagined that piercing stare.

"Kehehehe… you're right, it's not funny. But I laugh anyway," the Wizzrobe plopped back on the edge of the castle wall, dangling his legs gleefully. "I laugh anyway because I'm excited about facing Lord Vaati." He threw his head back and laughed heartily.

Argorok shot a plume of fire in anger. A Fire Wizzrobe amiably joined in with a fireball even though he hadn't been paying attention to the conversation. The dragon gnashed his fangs together. "I wouldn't be ssssurprised if that weakling wassss dead by now from some common monsssster."

"I would be."

Argorok growled.

The Thistle Wizzrobe tapped the side of his mask. "He's with that annoying hero."

"Sssso? The hero wantssss him dead. The Wind Mage hassss no alliessss. Not even ussss."

"And that's where you're wrong. You see, it's a hero's obligation to save someone who's dying." The Thistle Wizzrobe nodded. "We'll see Lord Vaati again, don't you worry Master Argorok."

XXXXXXXXXXX

The yellowing paper rustled in Link's hands as he took another look at the dungeon map. It indicated that the room in front of him would lead him to a dead end; a spacious, circular chamber. His forehead wrinkled. He put the map away as he pressed one hand cautiously against the door.

The first thing he noticed when he stepped into the ominous room was an insanely broad and heavy sword stuck on the wall next to the door. It appeared as though someone,  _something_ , powerful had thrown it violently against the wall: pieces of rock were strewn everywhere along the floor from where the impact had shattered the stone. Link immediately tensed and gripped his sword tightly, getting ready for whatever powerful monster could possibly be in the chamber. He took a few steps away from the door with his back facing the perimeter and his eyes uneasily searching the darkness.

Link's breath caught when he saw something unexpected on the floor. It was the Gale Boomerang, abandoned and thrown into a sad corner of the chamber. There were hints of blood on it, already turning a dark rusty color from starting to dry. Link felt a chill pass over him. Vaati wouldn't part with the boomerang unless he had been forced to.

"…Vaati?"

Disregarding caution momentarily, Link quickly treaded over to the boomerang. Color drained from his face when something else emerged from the obscuring shadows.

Pieces of armor were strewn around the room, and a dead man was on the floor. His skull was crushed to bits by some powerful impact. Next to that… "Vaati!"

Link ran over to the prone mage, even paler than usual. There was a gruesome puddle of blood around him, and Link noticed a vicious gash along his side and arm. His tunic that was supposed to be purple was a deep, splotchy red. He wasn't breathing.

Reflex took over. Link didn't waste his time thinking when he dropped his sword and made a mad grab for his inventory bag. He began to search frantically through the bag.

_Come on, come on, come on._

His fingers finally hit a smooth, glass surface, and they closed around them firmly as he brought up the bottle of Red Potion he had stolen from the blue bird at the entrance of the Forest Temple. The cork flew off with a loud pop and Link tried to force the limp sorcerer to drink it. He hadn't even thought of determining if Vaati was already dead.

_Come on, come on._

He couldn't let him die like that. Just couldn't. Sure, he had thought earlier that it wouldn't bother him so much if the troublesome sorcerer went to the next world, but it was a completely different story when being confronted with the actual situation opposed to just thinking about it. Vaati was an outright nasty thorn in society's fragile side, but he ought to go out with some dignity instead of meeting an unknown end in some forgotten temple, right?

And he shouldn't meet his end while he had been helping him, right? It sounded wrong – that's not how things were supposed to be. The idea was upsetting to Link just as much as it must be upsetting to Vaati. It should end with a battle, or some form of struggle between good and evil.

Well, it wasn't as simple as good and evil anymore. There was that whole complicated argument on whether or not Vaati or the monsters were inherently evil but…

_Ugh, that wasn't the point! The point was that Vaati was dying or dead and there wasn't much time to think about these things._

For a few minutes it seemed like nothing was going to happen, and Link almost accepted the fact that his enemy and travelling partner was never going to wake up. He sat there with numbness. Suddenly, a violent fit of coughing made him jump in surprise, and Vaati's red eyes were open again.

"What…?" Vaati gasped hoarsely with a faint look of surprise before he fell back to unconsciousness.

Link panicked, and then breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw that the sorcerer had just fallen asleep from exhaustion. He wiped his brow, now damp from cold sweat.  _I'm going to regret this later, huh._  Link leaned his back against a piece of armor that was lying behind him, and he looked at the mess of a wind mage that was collapsed in front of him. A thousand thoughts were swimming in his head now that the worst appeared to be over:

_What was I thinking?_

_It was a reaction._

_It would've been wrong to let him die like that._

_Didn't I try to kill him before?_

_That was different._

_Really?_

_Yeah._

_He's useless though._

_Not always._

_But he tries to kill me!_

_But he never does._

_One day though, he might succeed. He might find a way around his curse and then he'll really be dangerous._

_But that's at the very end. Not now. Not for a while._

Link shook his head away of these troublesome thoughts and he flopped onto the floor and fell asleep. He was tired.

XXXXXXXXX

Vaati woke up to the sound of munching. He felt like all hell was upon him, but at least he was alive.  _Alive?_

He sat up abruptly only to fall down again in pain.

"Whoa there. You shouldn't move like that yet." Link took another bite into one of the biscuits the Oocca had given them before they left the City in the Sky. "I'm surprised you even recovered with only a Red Potion after that wound in your side."

Vaati grimaced and rolled over away from Link. He slowly lifted himself up on his elbows, wincing occasionally. Link had saved him?  _Him?_! A part of him was extremely insulted, but a part of him was… no, never mind about that. "Nayru, Din, and Farore, you're such an idiot, boy." He sounded flustered. "You're going to regret this. I'm going to make sure you regret this. I hope you know you're going to die because you saved me."

Link continued to munch loudly. "Yeah. You're going to kill me later. You've told me a bajillion times already."

Vaati rounded on Link, flinched in pain, and glared daggers at the smiling boy. "Don't push your luck, boy. You've forgotten what I can do." He grinned, adding malevolently, "Without the Four Sword, nothing can stop me."

Link took another bite. "Sure."

Vaati's eye twitched. "You'll see. I'll find all of your little friends and kill them one by one as you watch helplessly. I'll make sure you hear every last one of their pathetic screams."

Link simply smiled and nodded. He'd gotten used to tuning the mage out; after a while, it was always the same thing.

The mage's voice was rising. "Your grandfather, how about him? Maybe I'll save him for last? Or wait, what about your dear little princess?"

Link perked up. He had finished his biscuit.

Vaati continued stubbornly. "That's right. Your dear Princess Zelda. Wouldn't it be a shame if something befell such a pretty little thing?"

The Hero took out another biscuit from his bag.

"Well? Don't you have anything to say?" irritation was mounting in Vaati's voice.

Link held up the biscuit. "Vaati, do you want to eat the last biscuit?"

Vaati furiously turned away and banged his fists into the wall in frustration. Link thought he could hear a muffled scream of rage.

"I'm sure you're hungry," Link pressed, ignoring the mage's fury and secretly finding schadenfreudian amusement at the sorcerer's reactions.

"You're bloody hopeless."

"It's pretty good."

Vaati ignored him.

"If you don't want it I'll eat it."

Vaati stared at the wall for a few minutes, turned on his heel, and snatched the biscuit out of Link's hand with a curt, "give me that." He then limped back over to the wall away from Link and sat down holding his wounded side glaring at the biscuit as angrily as he could. The sorcerer looked up in disgust when Link rolled over a bottle of Red Potion towards him.

"Don't look at me like that. I know you don't want help, but it'll stop the pain," Link motioned Vaati to take it. "It's the last one we stole from Trill's shop. We're not going to be able to get very far in the dungeon if you're still hurt."

"You mean the one  _you_  stole," Vaati muttered, but he took the potion anyway. The mage sat silently, lost in his own thoughts after he emptied the bottle. The sharp pain from his wounds went away, but the frown on his face remained. "Why the goddesses did you keep me alive?" He asked, his voice a strained whisper. "There's no advantage to keeping me alive."

Link shrugged. "I dunno. I've already asked myself that and I can't think of any good logical answer." He wiped the crumbs off of his face with his sleeve. "Let's go get going then, yeah?" Link tossed the boomerang over to Vaati who had finally decided to nibble on the biscuit. The mage promptly caught it and began to twirl it absent-mindedly on his fingers. As Link moved towards the door, he was stopped by an embarrassed cough.

"Link?"

Link turned around quizzically. The mage suddenly appeared fascinated by the chamber floor. Vaati was twirling his boomerang again; something Link noticed the sorcerer did when he was feeling agitated. He frowned at the bloodstained floor with a complicated, pained expression as though he were having trouble finding the words to say.

"Uh… thanks."

Link scratched his head. "It was only the right thing to do."

Vaati narrowed his eyes as he looked up sharply. "Do you seriously believe that?"

Link nodded. "Yeah. I mean, the Oocca gave us two biscuits so that means we each get one."

"Not the biscuits, dimwit!"

There was an awkward silence before Link spoke up. "Oh. You mean the whole saving you from death thing?" Link watched Vaati twirling his boomerang at a frightful speed before he answered. "Well, same answer then. It was only the right thing to do."

Vaati didn't look all that satisfied, but he said nothing and stood up. He picked up the Dominion Rod – still glowing – that was lying next to him, and scrutinized the enchanted statue that had landed the finishing blow on the Darknut. The mage seemed to be feigning interest in the statue at best; it was evident he was sufficiently flustered from the slight awkwardness he held himself.

Link grinned. "You know, I never would have thought I'd hear a 'thank you' from you."

Vaati snorted. "Well you know what? I never would have thought you were stupid enough to save someone who wants you dead." The boomerang kept spinning. "Let's go finish this test then. I hate this place."

Link continued to grin as he walked out the door after the wind mage who was still twirling his boomerang furiously.


	26. The Temple Guardian: Armogohma

"What's so funny?" Vaati glared behind him at Link who was suppressing snickers.

"Nothing. Just get yourself a mirror and you'll see what I mean," Link said, stifling a laugh. Vaati looked like something the garbage bin threw up, and the mage was failing to appear presentable even though he was trying to look dignified with his haughty air. His clothes were splotched red from his earlier bleeding, and some bits were flaking off brown after the blood had dried. His tunic hung limply where it was cut in half from the Darknut's attack, and the sleeves weren't the same lengths anymore. His silvery hair was dusty with plaster and there were hints of frazzled split ends. Bits of biscuit crumbs were still stuck around the collar; Vaati wasn't someone you'd call a messy eater, but he had been too agitated to care back in the Darknut's chamber.

Vaati growled and attempted to look as respectable as he could by rearranging his hat and brushing off stray crumbs.

Link shook his head and continued to snigger. "Don't even bother – we still have more of this dungeon to get through." Then, he nodded his head towards the huge marble statue that was hopping after Vaati, following the mage's every move. "By the way, what exactly happened after you disappeared under the bell?"

They stopped in front of a pair of gold-rimmed gates that were blocking their path. Vaati cocked his head, looked back at the statue following him, and then swung the dominion rod lazily. Link jumped back in surprise when the statue mimicked Vaati's movements and swung its enormous hammer down on the gates, flattening it. "A Darknut challenged me to a duel thinking I was you." An unlucky Dinalfos, a heavily armored lizard monster, decided to jump out at them from behind the flattened gates. It was likewise flattened by Vaati's statue. "I managed to crush it with this thing, but not before I was stabbed, unfortunately." Another swing and another monster was pressed flat. "I must say it was rather annoying." Swing, wham, squish.

Link followed Vaati and the statue carefully; keen to avoid being turned into a new part of the floor. "I didn't see any other route we could go to. I might have missed something on my way to the Darknut chamber."

"Probably. It's also possible we have to use this statue somehow." Vaati hitched the rod over his shoulder and eyed a bell in the room that was similar to the one he had first used to warp to the Darknut's chamber. As he approached, it reacted to the rod by glowing faintly. "I wonder…"

Link watched uneasily as Vaati moved under the bell with the Dominion Rod and the statue. "Remember what happened last time you did that?" He sighed disapprovingly. "Do you ever learn from your mistakes?"

"I know how to use this powerful statue now," Vaati snapped. "I don't make the same mistake twice."

"Right. You make it three times instead," Link rolled his eyes, referencing Vaati's triple defeat. Suddenly, a faint tapping noise caught his attention. Link squeezed his grip on his sword as the tapping came closer. "What's that?"

Frowning, Vaati lowered his dominion rod and peeked from under the bell he had been ready to activate. The tapping was coming from the other side of the wall of the room they were in. It stopped after it reached the point about five feet away from where the two were standing. Link took a step towards it, pointing his sword directly at the wall where the taps were last heard.

"Be on guard," Link mouthed. Vaati nodded once, and then his eyes caught a flicker of movement just above Link's head. His mouth curled upwards into a broad grin when he realized what it was he was looking at.

"Should you be worrying about other people?" Vaati's eyes followed the smooth round creature that was stealthily dropping down from the ceiling on a thin piece of invisible silk. It was about as big as a small watermelon, and its white skin blended in with the white marble of the dungeon.

"What are you –WaaARGH!" Link yelped and threw his pointed green hat against the wall as a white spider descended on it.

Vaati held his sides laughing, and the statue shuddered similarly with each hiccup. "Your sword knows you well," he snickered wickedly as Link shooed the spider away from his hat with a few well-placed stomps of his boot. The spider scurried away quickly and disappeared back up the wall and into the shadows. "Aren't you supposed to have no fear since you're gifted with the Triforce of Courage?"

Link prodded his hat with his sword, and then gingerly put it back onto his head after brushing it clean. "Courage doesn't necessarily mean I'm not afraid of anything!"

"Oh right. It means you're too much of an idiot to run the other way like  _you're supposed to_  when you feel scared."

"Din's fire I hate this sword," Link griped, ignoring Vaati who was finding the whole situation unnecessarily funny. Suddenly, the tapping noise from earlier resumed just behind the wall directly in front of Link. Already annoyed by the fact that the sword had made the dungeon design so that he was going against spiders, he snapped, "and for the love of Nayru what's making that sound?" He took a step towards the wall and tapped back with his sword. The sound coming from the other side stopped, apparently startled from receiving an answer. There followed a few seconds of silence, and then there was the ominous buzzing noise of a hot beam.

It was a noise similar to the lasers of a beamos – except this one sounded like a very large laser.

A very large laser.

Link watched a small red dot appear on the wall.

Watched the dot grow larger.

Felt the heat radiate from behind the wall.

Saw the smoke begin to curl from the center of the wall.

"Din."

_Boom!_

Link escaped the explosion in the nick of time as the wall smashed outwards from a powerful force. He caught glimpses of large, trunk-like legs covered with coarse hair. With impressive reflexes, he rolled out of the way to avoid being smashed from the confusion of legs that thundered into the room. From where he was standing, Vaati could make out the red eye of an extremely large monster within the cloud of dust. He ducked just in time when another scorching laser buzzed over his head. The monster gave an earsplitting screech and raised its two forelegs. It was still hard to tell what it was exactly.

" _SKREEeeeEETT!"_

"OW!" Vaati's head smacked against the bell he was standing under when Link came running towards him frantically. He felt himself roughly shoved around by a hand around his collar.

"Vaati use the bell and get us out of here!"

The sorcerer frowned. "We're retreating? That's new."

"Just trust me!"

"Oh cut it off and let go of me!" Vaati managed to wrench Link's hands away from his neck. Then, he finally got a good look at what it was that had been hidden behind the cloud of dust. It was quite possibly the biggest spider Hyrule had ever spawned, and its tiger-striped back was partly hidden by thick armor plates made of stone. It filled up nearly the entire width of the room they were in, and it was quickly closing in on them with fangs open wide and menacing. Vaati shrunk back. "Umm…"

"Hurry!"

Vaati aimed the Dominion Rod high over his head, making the bell shudder down on them slowly. The spider screeched, rushing towards them. The two of them squeezed backwards with their backs pressed against the inner wall of the bell, nearly crushed from the impossible space they occupied along with the fat statue. Just as the bell closed completely over them, there was another angry screech and they were rocked by a forceful impact crashing into the bell.

Link held his breath as the bell continued to shake for a few terrifying seconds. Then, a brilliant flash of green light blinded him and everything became still.

"Would you please…  _please_  stop breathing against my neck."

Vaati's voice caught Link's attention. He realized how close they were and squirmed away slightly. "It's not like I can help it. There's hardly any room."

The sorcerer shuddered and wrenched the Dominion Rod against Link's face in the darkness. "Don't talk either! Do you have any idea how unpleasant that feels?"

After what seemed like an excruciating amount of time (it was only a few seconds in actuality), the bell finally lifted up and the two tumbled out onto the floor. Link surveyed the room they were in - making sure it was safe - before turning to the wind mage with crossed arms. "Sheesh. You act like I have a disease or something."

Vaati tugged the wrinkles out of his cape with a look of disgust on his face. "I swear I get rashes from being near someone I hate very much. It's an involuntary reaction."

"So if I want you to suffer I should just hug you and never let go."

"Good goddesses, don't say that! Just hearing that makes me cringe!"

Link paused, and then shook his head. "Don't worry. I don't really like the idea of being known as the hero who defeated the bad guy with his killer hug." He took a quick look around and noticed they had been warped back to the spacious chamber he had been in earlier. They were at the very top of the high-roofed room, and Link craned his neck down to the bottom with a look of unease. Sure enough, the circular pen with the dozens of white spiders he had encountered earlier was still at the bottom. Of all the places they could have warped to…

At least it was better than that one enormous spider with lasers shooting out of its eye.

A faint crackling noise caught Link's attention and he slowly turned to look behind him. Vaati already had his gaze fixated on the tiny spot in the wall that was beginning to crumble.

"You don't think…" Link began.

Vaati nodded once, his eyes narrowing. "Run."

The two dashed away from the wall that suddenly bulged outwards, molten and crimson. They ran towards the center elevator platform and tried to catch their balance as it shook from the approaching monster's weight. Vaati shook the Dominion Rod with frustration from the slowness of the statue. The armored arachnid knocked it aside as it tried to squeeze over to where they were.

"It's a type of Gohma, I'm sure of it. It's a stronger build than what I've seen before though," Vaati backed away when the Armogohma skittered over to the entrance of the platform. Then something occurred to him when he noticed the heavy statue still trying to hop past the monster over to where they were. As Link was keeping the Armogohma at bay with his sword, the sorcerer raised the Dominion Rod over his head and swung it down. The hammer landed on the armored head of the spider and it crashed to the floor with a wail. It flailed its legs, and then scrambled backwards to retreat. In its hurry to retreat it pressed the panel, sending the elevator shaking towards the lower floor.

Steadying himself, Vaati watched the spider scurry up the wall and up towards the ceiling, now impossible to squash. "Now what?" He turned his gaze towards Link to see if he had any ideas. Or where Link had been standing; the blond hero was nowhere near the area. The sorcerer kicked away one of the white spiders scurrying around in the pen nearby, and then his eyes widened when he heard a fizzling buzz up above.

"RrrreeeeeEE!"

The thin red line of the scorching laser shot down from up above, and Vaati just barely managed to escape it.

"Ugh, disgusting!" he ran frantically away as the laser followed him with a buzz, frying the smaller spiders unfortunate enough to be in the way. The creatures exploded with wet pops as they exploded like melons in the summer heat. Vaati continued to run to avoid meeting the same gross fate as the dead white spiders. "I've been doing an awful lot of running in this temple," he muttered. His lips curled even further down in a frown when Link was still nowhere in sight. "And where the hell are you Link? You arachnophobic coward!"

"I'm right here. And can you keep running like that? That's perfect, thanks."

Vaati's neck snapped towards Link's voice and he noticed the hero crouching in the shadow of a staircase with an arrow knocked into his bow and taking aim at the monster spider on the ceiling. Vaati had half an urge to run towards Link and throw him into the path of the laser.

Link noticed the murderous look of rage in the sorcerer's glare. "I know what you're thinking, and if you do that then you'll most likely kill us both."

"How dare you make a bait out of me _?_!" Vaati ranted, "I'm the greatest sorcerer to ever live! I'm not supposed to run like some mere second class pushover!"

Link pulled the arrow back a little farther and took aim at the Armogohma's eye. "If it bothers you that much then why don't you stop running?" He released the arrow and it flew true to its target. With an ear-splitting wail, the Armogohma's legs scrunched together and fell to the floor below in shock.

"Got it!" Link cried. Then, he saw the monster scuttle back and shake the arrow away from its head. Link's face fell. "…Or not." The armor had protected the Armogohma's vulnerable eye when it had closed just before the arrow had hit it. Quickly putting his bow and arrows away, Link switched to his sword as the arachnid turned its attention to him instead. The Armogohma inched closer, though avoiding the range of Vaati's statue at the same time. Link noticed, and he called over to the wind mage who was watching with offended contempt. "Vaati, can you get your statue to attack it? It worked the last time." He backed away from the venom-imbued fangs.

Vaati clutched the Dominion Rod and shook his head. "It's no use. Your monster spider is faster and it learned to stay away from it." He walked over to the faintly glowing statue casually as Link fought to keep the spider at bay with the Master Sword. He flicked away dust off of his shoulder. "I mean, if you can bring it over here than that's a different matter." Vaat sneered, "all I need is some bait."

"You are one of the most vindictive people I have ever met."

While parrying the Armogohma, Link gradually inched towards Vaati's statue. The spider followed viciously, several times getting dangerously close to impaling Link with its huge fangs. Link hesitated when he stepped right in front of the statue with its skull-crushing hammer poised above him. Should Vaati even flinch with the Dominion Rod… the terrifying image of the crushed Darknut resurfaced in his mind.

Vaati tightened his grip on the Dominion Rod as the Armogohma squealed in frustration and uncertainty around the statue that had squashed it earlier. Vaati glanced at Link, and a flicker of conflicted emotions passed over the sorcerer's face. He still hadn't completely gotten over the fact that he had to work as a team with the person he hated the most. It was his instinct to hurt Link in any way possible, such as crushing him with the Dominion Rod and statue as he could so easily do now. At the same time he needed Link alive for now if he wanted his powers back. It made him cringe to think he was relying on someone, but what could he do? He didn't trust Link – Link was a troublesome existence who was always in the way. He didn't trust Link… and yet… and yet there was that stupid, idiotic incident where Link had saved him for no good reason whatsoever.

That screwed everything up. Seriously, stuff like that isn't supposed to happen. There were respected and understood boundaries that should exist between two mortal enemies, and saving the other is not what you're allowed to do.

"Vaati? Are you ready?" Link looked over his shoulder uncertainly as he noted Vaati's distracted expression. Pfft. The fool was finally having doubts on whether or not he could trust him with his life.

Trust – wasn't that one of the Master Sword's conditions on clearing the test in this temple? Vaati smirked bitterly. That left only himself to trust his enemy that helping him was the best option. _Well I'm only doing this so I can get out of here. Yeah._ "Yes. Move to your right on my signal."

The Armogohma jabbed at Link with its forelegs to test the waters. Then, it lunged with a screech.

"Now!"

Link moved to the right to avoid both the spider in front of him and the statue behind him. Vaati took a step forward and swung the Dominion Rod in an arch, making the statue mimic his movements and bring down the heavy hammer down onto the Armogohma's head. The spider wailed, and then there was a crack as its protective armor began to crumble. With a few desperate twitches, the monster finally stopped struggling and curled over.

"Hmph. Does your sword feel any different now?" Vaati asked with a sniff. His lips flattened to a straight line when he saw Link with his back pressed against a wall and very white.

The hero finally found his voice. "More… more spiders."

"Hm?" Where the gigantic Gohma had been, there were now hundreds of tiny white spiders surrounding a red one. The Armogohma hadn't been one entity, but hundreds. Vaati sighed and obliterated the mass with one last swipe of the Dominion Rod. Link cringed in disgust at the sight of lots of squished spiders. "You're pitiful when it comes to spiders, boy," Vaati shook his head with disdain.

Before Link could answer, the Master Sword suddenly gleamed with a blinding white light that obscured everything from view.

XXXXXXXXX

"I ssssense them! They are over there, by the Ordona Province again."

"Shhhh! Not so loud Master Argorok!" The Thistle Wizzrobe brought a wiry finger to where his lips would be, shushing the powerful armored dragon.

An Ice Wizzrobe looked up from where he had been making a disturbing ice sculpture of a dying human hanging off the edge of the castle wall with the other Ice Wizzrobes. "Oh, have you found Lord Vaati?"

Argorok noted with curiosity how the lone Summoner Wizzrobe appeared slightly peeved that his other companions had overheard what he had said. The Thistle Wizzrobe picked at his nails, annoyed, for a few seconds, and then gave a dramatic shrug to go back walking around with a carefree gait that was so obviously a façade, as Argorok had come to learn.

"Should we go greet them then?" the Ice Wizzrobe continued, stopping his work on the numerous "dead people" sculptures that were melting in wet puddles all over the castle periphery.

"Kehehe," the Thistle Wizzrobe jumped over to an ice sculpture of a person with a hole through his torso and carelessly summoned a rock above it. It came down with a crash and ice splintered everywhere as the wizzrobe laughed innocently. "They're going to come here anyway. Why bother going over there?"

The Ice Wizzrobe looked at his crushed piece of work. "I figured we were pretty bored just waiting."

"Weren't we ordered to wait here and watch?"

A Fire Wizzrobe who had been listening in on the conversation cackled. "Kehaha! Since when did you listen to orders?"

"When I'm being lazy."

"True enough."

The wizzrobes went back to doing their own thing. Meanwhile, the Thistle Wizzrobe sauntered back over to the dragon and took a seat between his claws. Argorok growled in a low voice so only the Summoner Wizzrobe could hear. "What are you planning?"

The wizzrobe looked up sharply with his usual mask of childish enthusiasm. Then, he slowly looked out towards Ordona Province with an expression of cold resolve that, though rare, the dragon knew represented his true self. "I am looking for something." Argorok maintained respectful silence as he waited for the wizzrobe to explain. The Thistle Wizzrobe's eyes briefly glanced over to the rest of his comrades before looking away. "Something different. Something to catch my interest. For too long we have been stuck on the age old laws of the Guild. There has been no progression, and we remain the same, disposable henchmen of our Lords and Masters."

The dragon hissed, bringing his broken wings closer. "Sssso you think you can measure up to our kind." Argorok scoffed to himself. A mere wizzrobe was all that a wizzrobe was ever going to be.

At this, the Thistle Wizzrobe burst out in laughter. "No, no, I don't want to be equals to someone like the great Master Argorok." The wizzrobe stood up, and then walked over to the shadow of the dragon and out of sight of the other wizzrobes. He cracked his knuckles, and then tilted his head as he stared at his hands as though he were unsure of the spell he was about to cast. "I'm going to be away for a bit. Don't let the others know, please."

With that, the Thistle Wizzrobe vanished with a faint pop. He was aware he was breaking the rules yet again by experimenting with new spells such as the warping spell used by the Render, but what the hey, he'd already broken enough Guild Laws to be dead a dozen times over. Besides, he'd always suspected that the Guild Laws were in place not to protect wizzrobe kind, but to prevent any one wizzrobe from becoming more powerful than its brethren. Those laws were designed to strip away self-identity and encourage a group mentality; to squash competition and get rid of individuality.

So far he hadn't exploded inside out from trying more than one elemental spell, which the law had promised would happen if he'd tried.

"I don't want to be an equal to you, Master Argorok," the Summoner Wizzrobe giggled as a wooded surroundings of a forest became recognizable from after the warp, "I want to surpass you." He grinned behind his mask as he saw the outline of a hero in green tunic and a sorcerer in purple came into view.


	27. Encounter with the Renegade

Link brought his arms down from his face as the light disappeared and his eyes adjusted to their surroundings. They were no longer in the Temple of Time, but in the Ordon Springs close to Ordon village. He felt the cool water slosh around his boots and seep between his toes. Next to him, Vaati was busy observing his reflection in the pool. The sorcerer's clothes were good as new, and the mage fingered the brim of his restored hat in satisfaction.

Link brought his sword up to his face and watched the metal glint in the flecks of sunlight that came through the trees. He swung it a couple of times, and was surprised to notice the difference of how it felt to hold it compared to before: it appeared to have lost the hostile vibe it had given off before whenever he had held it. "I think we passed," he finally stated.

Vaati continued to admire himself in the water's reflection. "Oh good. Let's go find Ganondorf then."

Nodding solemnly, Link bent down to fill two empty bottles with fresh water. As he crouched nearer to the water, he noticed something strange in the reflection. He could make out a creepy, deadpan face of a large-billed bird looking over his shoulder with mild curiosity.

"You two are still carousing around here? It's not all that fun waiting around you know."

There was a splash as Link and Vaati immediately whirled around to face the owner of the voice. Link brought the now completed Master Sword in front of him. "A monster?"

The creature whipped one arm across his chest dismissively, causing his oversized sleeves to whirl just past Link's nose. "Pffft where are my manners? I am a wizzrobe: nothing at all special, disposable, and most likely worthless in the grand scheme of things. Now isn't that a happy thought?" The Thistle Wizzrobe's shoulders shook slightly, and though his face was covered by his ridiculous, bright yellow toucan mask it was obvious he was grinning from ear to ear.

"It's obvious what you are," Vaati snapped, "and being a wizzrobe I'm sure you're not here with friendly intentions."

"No need to get so uppity. I'm being so polite and I'm treated with hostility in return." The Thistle Wizzrobe sighed dramatically. "Everyone is so mean to me." The wizzrobe watched them almost critically from behind his toucan mask. There were a few seconds of tense silence, and then the wizzrobe seemed to reach a conclusion. "Lord Vaati, I always thought you looked more impressive than that. I'm disappointed."

With lightning quick speed, Vaati managed to reach the wizzrobe and pin him against a boulder. "Say that to my face again," he hissed dangerously.

"What will happen to me if I do?" the Summoner Wizzrobe asked with little worry in his voice.

"Horrible, painful things."

"In that case I can make you as upset as I want, for I am already as good as dead."

Vaati gave a forceful shove in warning, causing the wizzrobe to yelp and then fall into a fit of giggles. "Oh you'll wish you were dead, you foolish toucan."

Before the sorcerer hurt the intruder, Link intervened. "Wait, Vaati. What do you mean, you're good as dead?"

At this, the Thistle Wizzrobe rolled his eyes and sighed sadly. "Oh, well, you know, I broke a few… actually a lot… of Guild Laws because I was bored. No one gets my humor – it's depressing."

"A renegade?" The sorcerer's eyes narrowed. He'd heard of renegade wizzrobes before, and had learned to be especially wary of them during his reign. Wizzrobes were untrustworthy to begin with, and when there was a renegade running around that meant there was an uncontrollable, and therefore troublesome, wizzrobe on his hands. The Guild took care of renegades well, but the fact that this one appeared alone meant it had either tricked the Guild or the Guild was losing control over it. Neither scenario instilled much confidence on the renegade's reliability.

The Thistle Wizzrobe's curious laugh brought Vaati back to attention. "Kehehe. I prefer 'revolutionary,' but perhaps that's asking for too much. And can you please let go of my neck? It's rather difficult to talk like this, and it's not very comfortable."

The sorcerer kept a firm grip. "What's a renegade like you doing here?"

"I'm not very good at sorcery like you are, Lord Vaati, so I was practicing how to do some basic warping. Warping is easy to many, but do it a certain way and it's a little more complicated. So I was warping and just so happened to, by complete coincidence, in a one-in-a-million-billion chance, to warp to where you were. Such a chance encounter must have been directed by fate."

Link crossed his arms. "That, or you knew we were here and you're not telling us everything."

"What incredible insight! Perhaps you should have held the Triforce of Wisdom instead!" the Thistle Wizzrobe clapped deliberately, sarcasm dripping in every syllable.

"Okay Vaati, I won't stop you if you kill this dumb bird right now."

"I would love to stay here and be killed right now, but unfortunately I have to leave before my confederates become suspicious of where I am. Please hurry to the castle and don't worry about being fashionably late as you two are now beyond 'fashionably' and are simply 'late.'" The Thistle Wizzrobe tapped the edge of his mask with a free finger as though he were trying to remember something, and then snapped his fingers a few seconds later. "Aha. Lord Vaati I'm going to have you let go so I may leave."

Vaati frowned, and then jumped backwards when fire burst by his nose. He scowled as the wizzrobe laughed.

"Kehaha! It's been a while since I've summoned fire." The wizzrobe shot another fireball into the air for fun. "I used to be a Fire Wizzrobe, you see. Red robes were all the rage. But then I got bored of wearing red, so I switched to be an Ice Wizzrobe." There was another hearty cackle, and the Thistle Wizzrobe spread his arms wide. "Now I've picked both red and blue, which makes Thistle. I suppose I can call it purple but purple is so…" he surveyed the purple sorcerer critically.

"What? _"_  Vaati demanded.

The Thistle Wizzrobewaved him away. "Nevermind. Anyways, do say hello to the Poes who are on watch by the large tree on top of the hill closest to the moat, by the boulder next to the river, and by the drawbridge to the castle. They will immediately report your arrival to the Dark King so that he may receive the guests properly." And with that, the odd visitor vanished as quickly as he'd appeared.

Link stared at the space where the wizzrobe had just been. "So… did I hear him correctly or did he just warn us where Ganondorf's guards were?"

"He did," Vaati said flatly.

"But isn't he on their side?"

The sorcerer looked annoyed. "One, he's a wizzrobe and they have an untrustworthy allegiance to any side but their own, even though they're generally known to side with the monsters. Two, he's also a renegade wizzrobe. He's a wizzrobe who has decided to betray everything a wizzrobe stands for, which is allegiance to the Guild."

"What's the Guild?"

"A group of nutcase sorcerers, that's what," Vaati grumbled.

"Sounds like you would fit in just fine."

"They all follow a set of strict rules regarding magical practices where death is the penalty if the rules are broken. This particular wizzrobe apparently found some motivation that would let him risk even death," the sorcerer continued, ignoring Link's comment. Renegade wizzrobe's made him antsy, especially since he'd had a history with them making his plans go less-than-smoothly before.

Link scratched his head. "Then he's on our side?"

Vaati shrugged. "Probably not."

"Then…"

Vaati sighed, and shook his head. "Look, I don't know. I've dealt with lots of monsters before, and in my experience I learned to only trust about ten percent of what a wizzrobe says. Most of it is misinformation aimed to throw your attention away from the valuable truth that they mention… or not mention."

"Maybe he wants us to win against Ganondorf for some reason," Link guessed.

"Maybe. But I also feel like there was more to it, like mentioning the warping practices. When you're talking to a wizzrobe, you have to pay especially careful attention to the things they say that wasn't necessary in the conversation. In this case he didn't have to tell us about practicing warping, but he did. Warping is so basic: there shouldn't be any need to practice. Unless..." the creases along Vaati's forehead deepened. He stopped cold when he remembered how he had once explained to Link how the Render used a twist in an obscure warping spell for time travel and extreme summons, like recruiting powerful creatures that were supposed to be long dead. Was it possible that 'Thistle' was… no. No way. "No, it can't be that," he said after a while, as though to reassure himself. "That's too ambitious for a creature who's not even an ore class monster… he doesn't have enough power to pull off something like that. Then why would he… ?"

Link watched Vaati lost in his own world of confusion. "Or maybe he's just messing with us. He's done a good job of it if he is," he added, noting Vaati's seriously flustered face.

Vaati blinked, coming back to reality. Then, he threw his hands up in the air. "Oh Din blast it, let's just go."

XXXXXXXXX

Back on the rooftops of Hyrule Castle where the wizzrobes and Argorok kept dutiful watch, a slight disturbance in the air signaled the return of Thistle from his visit. Only Argorok noticed he had been gone, however. "I assssume it would be pointlessss to assssk where you were," the dragon noted with a puff of smoke.

Thistle tutted. "I went to say hello to the hero and Lord Vaati."

Argorok spewed a jet of fire in surprise. "What? _!_ "

"I told them to hurry up," the wizzrobe replied simply.

The dragon was becoming restless. "Perhapssss we should notify Lord Ganon of their approach."

Thistle brought his hands up to the dragon's head and brought it closer to him. He spoke in a conspiratorial voice. "Or perhaps you should leave this to me."

The elite dragon scoffed. "It issss not in your possssition to be making important decisionssss, wizzrobe."

Thistle's eyes glinted. His voice was friendly on the surface but it was laced with bits of venom. "Then why don't you go run along and talk to Lord Ganon hmmm? I am sure you'll be received _very warmly_."

At this, Argorok flinched. The wizzrobe had a point – Lord Ganon would treat him horribly if he went to see him now, especially since his crippled appearance was a constant reminder on how he had failed him. A reassuring tap on his muzzle brought him back to attention, and the dragon growled as the renegade wizzrobe laughed.

"Just leave this to me, Master Argorok. If it makes you feel any better, my little experiments have been working the way I want them to. Everything will be fine." Thistle rubbed his hands together. "Stick with me. I know how to pick my teams."

Argorok puffed a cloud of smoke, muttering to himself. These past few days the Summoner Wizzrobe had taken a liking to talking to him, perhaps because he felt the dragon was the only one he could confide in. It could have been kind of cute - how a lesser creature was looking up to him like a loyal henchman - except this wizzrobe was anything but "cute." He was too independent and stubbornly defiant to be a good henchman; he could see it in those cold eyes behind the mask.

Argorok never really liked wizzrobes to begin with: most of the ore class monsters and loyal followers of the Dark Faction didn't. This one in particular made him wonder just who was above who in the hierarchy. Was Argorok, a monster of the elite class, really standing above these robed mages?

Or rather, this one mage?

After all, the plan the Summoner had in mind was nothing short of humiliating for the dragon, but all he could do was nod his head and go with it because of his crippled state. And the plan, if it worked, made him worry about the amount of power that was going to be entrusted to that one wizzrobe. The dragon had a gnawing suspicion that the Thistle Wizzrobe was dangerous to Lord Ganon's plan, but he dismissed the gut feeling. He kept telling himself that a mere wizzrobe was only ever going to be just that: a mere wizzrobe.

If only he had paid more attention to his feeling of unease.


	28. Wizzrobes Love Parties

About an hour and a half later, Link and Vaati had managed to avoid all of Ganondorf's Poes who were on the lookout for them thanks to the renegade wizzrobe's advice. They were now only about a mile away from the castle gates, and they hid behind a rock to decide what to do about getting into the castle. Link was surprised by the transformation of Hyrule from a lively, thriving castle town to a dismal, sinister one. A dark cloud overshadowed Hyrule castle and monsters were prowling around the gates instead of the usual guards. There were a few disfigured (and kind of weird) ice sculptures of mangled people dying (and half melting) off the side of the walls that were the handiwork of the Ice Wizzrobes. Link thought he could recognize a few sculptures that seemed to represent himself and even Vaati with signature pointed hats and whirling capes.

"It seems Ganondorf decided to redecorate while we were gone," Vaati observed flatly from behind the rock cliff they were hiding behind.

Link clenched his fists together in anger, "Everyone better be all right."

Vaati shrugged. "Well, if he thinks like I do, then he'll probably scare everyone to death by letting the monsters roam around the town for the first several weeks. The townsfolk will usually be smart enough to lock themselves up in their houses. After a while, it'll get so boring he might order some monsters to break into a couple of houses and kill them. Maybe one family a week to increase the psychological torture."

Link fell silent and stared at Vaati wide-eyed in shock.

Vaati continued in a dreary, bored monotone. "The guards inside though, again if he thinks like me, he'll probably kill on the spot to shut them up. You know, they can get so awfully screechy and annoying you can't help but make them quiet for good. When all the townsfolk are gone, he might let the monsters just obliterate each other in team battles. Kind of like survival tag, except you die if you lose. That also gets pretty boring once most of your monsters start disappearing."

Link finally found his voice. "… You're sick."

Vaati snapped up, startled. "I'm just thinking about Ganondorf might do," he replied indignantly.

Link continued to stare. "Yeah, except you said that's how you think. Some of the things you sounded like you've already done."

"You can't be an evil dictator without exercising your power," Vaati retorted severely, trying to defend himself, "and besides, I never actually got around to doing most of all that because some annoying little brat like you kept stopping me."

"I was stupid to begin thinking you might not be all that bad," Link shook his head, still in shock.

Vaati scoffed. "That's the problem with you, boy. You think everything is pink and fluffy and nice." He went back to scowling at an ice sculpture of himself and Link that were creatively molded around one of the spiked towers to make it seem like they had been impaled. To rub salt in the wound, whoever had made that particular ice sculpture thought it'd be funny if his sculpture was also simultaneously being stepped on by Link's ice sculpture. Apparently Ganondorf's current henchmen were having a little too much fun during their spare time. Just as he was about to say something to Link, he noticed a large shadow move behind his melting ice sculptures by the tower. He became numb when he realized what it was.

It was Argorok.

"You can't be serious. That dragon… it survived? _!_ "

"What? _!_ " Link immediately looked in the direction of Vaati's nervous gaze and sure enough, the armored dragon was perched along the castle wall. It was difficult to tell from the distance they were at, but it appeared as though Argorok was looking right towards them. "I think he knows we're here," Link trailed off. This was bad. Their two fights with the dragon hadn't been easy, and Argorok could have easily killed at least one of them if it hadn't been for dumb luck to save them. Link waited for the dragon to leap off of the castle walls and fly towards them with fire spewing out of its jaws, but Argorok continued to wait and stare at them with frustration. Apparently something was keeping the dragon from chasing them, but what?

"Look, the renegade is also there." Vaati pointed at the dot of unmistakable light purple of the Summoner Wizzrobe appear from behind the ice sculptures. Thistle tilted his head when he looked their way, and then playfully melted away the sculptures' faces with fire.

"It looks like that wizzrobe is keeping Argorok from attacking us now."

Wrinkles deepened along Vaati's forehead. "This situation is getting weirder. Who ever heard of a wizzrobe ordering an elite ore class monster around? That's as absurd as a king taking orders from a slave."

"He's not letting Argorok attack, and it looks like they haven't warned the other monsters about us yet, but something tells me he won't just let us go in peacefully," Link frowned as the wizzrobe broke off Vaati's sculpture's leg and tossed it over to Argorok who immediately torched it.

"Ehrmmm, actually I think you could be wrong about that," Vaati noted with widening eyes. Thistle tugged at Argorok's helm and whispered something to the dragon. A few seconds later, the dragon turned its great head reluctantly towards the other monsters on guard and roared an order. Vaati and Link watched, stupefied, when the entire group of monsters standing guard on their side of the wall moved over to the other side, making it easier for the two of them to sneak in. The only guard left was one moblin leaning against the gate, but all of the guards that had been walking along the top of the wall and the roofs were gone. Vaati was at a loss for words when Thistle gave them an over-exaggerated bow before following Argorok to the other side of the wall. "And this is another reason why I hate renegade wizzrobes – you can't predict what they'll do next," Vaati mumbled.

"So he does want to help us!"

"I wouldn't put my money on that," Vaati said flatly.

"But look how he got rid of all of those guards," Link waved his arms at the now empty lookouts along the castle wall.

Vaati sighed, and then watched a Kargaroc fly over the Hyrule gates thoughtfully. He didn't completely trust that the renegade wizzrobe meant to help them. "Link, what's your idea on getting us into the castle?"

Link fiddled with the Master Sword. "I don't really have one. Um… walk in?" he pointed at the lone moblin guard at the gate.

The mage let out another heavy sigh, "That's right, I forgot. You like waltzing into fortresses without thinking. What I can never understand is how you always manage to survive."

"It can't be that bad of an idea if I never seem to die," Link countered.

"I happen to be an expert in near-death experiences. I don't want another one of those because of a dumb idea by my worst enemy," Vaati snapped. "I have a better one. Go find two Kargarocs and I'll show you what we'll do."

XXXXXXXX

A while later…

"I said TWO Kargarocs, you fool! Not an entire flock!"

"I couldn't help it! They wouldn't stop following me!" Link yelled as he hurried away from the flying mass of angry monsters that had chased him back to Vaati. He shot one down with an arrow and continued to run. Vaati threw his boomerang towards the Kargarocs, causing them to become flutter to the ground in a daze.

"Okay Link, pick two that look like strong fliers and get rid of the rest."

Link had some objections to being ordered around by the sorcerer, but he hastily defeated all but two of the monsters. He didn't want to run anymore.

Vaati threw his boomerang again to keep the two from regaining their senses. "Hop on. Hurry before it wakes up," Vaati demanded as he straddled one of the Kargarocs.

"This is your idea…?" Link asked in disbelief. "They might not follow orders," he said hesitantly, but followed suit after Vaati gave him a fierce look that told him to stop whining.

"We  _make_ them listen. Link, you're not to be nice." Vaati put his hands around the monster's neck as it began to thrash about. He forcefully wrenched its neck straight and jerked it upwards so he could see its eyes. The Kargaroc understood the mage meant business, and abruptly became obedient.

Link tried to copy Vaati, but he couldn't make himself look angry enough to force his Kargaroc to calm down. In the end, he had to resort to putting the edge of his sword against its head to keep the monster from throwing him off.

"Good. Now let's see how well they fly." Vaati gave a sharp tug on his Kargaroc's neck but it didn't budge. Instead, it squawked resentfully. Vaati glowered, "If you don't take us over the castle, I'm going to order Link here to drive his sword through your skull. Now get going."

Link wasn't sure whether the Kargaroc understood what the sorcerer had said, but the mage's voice was menacing enough that the monster took to the air fearfully. Link gave a much gentler nudge to get his bird flying.  _See, being nice works,_ Link thought bitterly as his monster followed after Vaati's hurriedly. They flew above the castle gates high enough so they wouldn't catch more attention but thanks to Thistle gathering the sentries away, there was little worry for that. Link noticed he could steer the monster by small taps against its neck. He was thrilled at this discovery, but then became worried as he looked down at all the tiny roofs far below his feet. "Um, Vaati? How are we going to get down?"

Only the sounds of beating wings filled the silence in the air.

"You didn't think that far, did you…"

Vaati angrily whirled around. "I'm thinking, all right? You think too!"

"What do you mean, 'you think too?' I thought you knew what you were getting us into!"

"Shut up, Link! It's not like your idea was any better!"

"At least mine would've gotten us into the town!"

"Where we obviously would've died!"

"I never die!"

"And that's what drives me insane!"

"That's off topic! Don't confuse me!"

They continued to bicker. The pair failed to notice their noise was attracting the attention of the Fire and Ice Wizzrobes who were by Argorok and Thistle. One of the Ice Wizzrobes tapped the Summoner Wizzrobe on his shoulder, and the mage grinned beneath his mask when he saw Vaati and Link. "Perfect," he whispered under his breath, "I have them right where I want them." He whirled around and gave Argorok a hearty slap on his neck. "Well Master Argorok, it seems like you were wrong about where those two were going to come from kehahaha!" He warped away, still giggling, when the dragon angrily snapped its jaws at him.

"You told me to – "

" _Nothing to worry about everyone_ ," Thistle announced loudly over Argorok's objections. The wizzrobe took one warning glance towards the dragon before he spread his arms wide to catch the attention of the rest of the wizzrobes. "Let's start then, shall we? Remember, I take full responsibility so don't hold back. Kehehe."

XXXXXXXX

Vaati was the first to realize that something suspicious was going on down below. He nudged his Kargaroc to fly slightly lower so that he could get a better look. "Those wizzrobes are up to something," he noted, taking a respite from arguing with Link.

"– even know why I listened to you! You're such a – "

"For the love of Nayru just  _shut up!_ " Vaati jabbed his finger towards the Fire and Ice Wizzrobes who had formed a circle around the Summoner. Thistle had his arms crossed in front of him as though he were preparing for a spell, and his entire body glowed with an electric blue aura that appeared to be fed from the surrounding wizzrobes. Thistle noticed them looking, and Vaati could have sworn the cursed wizzrobe winked at them.

"Ummm, what is he doing?" Link finally managed. "He's still on our side, isn't he?"

At this moment, Thistle laughed loudly and threw his arms towards Argorok perched next to the group of wizzrobes. The aura surrounding Thistle threaded towards the dragon so that now Argorok was glowing in the same way. Argorok gave a shriek of protest, but after a few seconds he looked at his back in surprise. Not only had his crippled wing been partially restored, but also a new set of magical wings that were even larger than his own was spread wide behind his back.

"He was never on our side," Vaati's eyes narrowed sourly.

"VaaaaatiiiiiIIII!" Argorok screeched, his new set of wings propelling him into the air.

"Jump!" Link cried, and he reached over and forcefully pulled the paralyzed wind mage with him; Vaati wasn't a natural fighter and didn't have Link's reflexes. The two landed with a heavy thud onto the rooftops below, and they heard a dreadful crunch as Argorok's jaws closed down onto the two unlucky Kargarocs they had been riding. They scattered behind a tower to catch their breaths.

"Forget crippled. He's even faster than before…" Link gasped.

"We have to take down those wizzrobes," Vaati nodded his head towards the group of wizzrobes a few towers away from them. "They're distributing their energy towards that Summoner Wizzrobe so that he can cast really high level spells he wouldn't be able to cast normally. It's because of him that Argorok remains a threat."

An incoming roar warned them to start running again, fast. Argorok crashed through the tower they had been hiding behind, spewing blue flames instead of his usual red. It appeared Thistle's magical upgrade allowed the dragon to breathe hotter flames.

"Vaati stun them all at once with your boomerang. They're defenseless!" Link shouted as he took out his bow and aimed it at the Wizzrobes who were completely exposed as they were spell casting.

"Got it! What the –" Vaati skidded to a halt just as a huge, mystical blue claw crashed down in front of him. He fell back, covering his face from the splinters that flew everywhere. "Tch!" Vaati jumped onto his feet and looked towards Argorok who now also had additional claws that extended from his body.

Thistle peered at them from the corner of his eye, and tutted. "Ah ah ah, not so fast." The Wizzrobe slid his arms across the air, and Argorok moved to the side in a similar fashion. It was like a puppeteer controlling a puppet.

The dragon hissed and settled between the two partners and the wizzrobes. "You have foiled me twice, but thrice you will defeat me not." Argorok was about to close in on them when more blue rings appeared around his neck and tail. They stopped the dragon's movement completely, and Argorok growled when Thistle giggled at the new development. "What issss the meaning of thissss?" He would have flailed his tail in frustration if the blue rings didn't stop him from doing so.

An Ice Wizzrobe cocked his head with a bit of strained exertion on his voice. "Yes, Summoner. We are sacrificing much of our energy already. Haven't you had enough to be able to let Master Argorok fly?"

Thistle sniggered wickedly. "Well Master Argorok, you just admitted you were foiled not once, but twice! You have a terrible track record."

"What issss the meaning of thissss? _!"_  Argorok roared again when his neck was twisted upwards, making him unable to spew fire at either Link or Vaati. The hero and the sorcerer could only watch, dumbfounded.

"I'm just making sure I have your full cooperation, that's all. What if you make another mistake and fail to please Lord Ganon a third time?" Thistle took a moment to laugh, and at this point the other wizzrobes were beginning to exchange worried glances with each other. Argorok stuttered; it didn't bode well when the ordinarily giggly wizzrobes were actually looking perturbed. Thistle abruptly stopped laughing and cocked his head indignantly, letting his true colors show. "But… oops. You already made a mistake." He circled his hands, and Argorok's neck helplessly followed the same motion so that he was now facing the group of wizzrobes instead. "Me, on your side? Didn't you know I'm a pathological liar?"

"What issss your motive, traitor?" Argorok glared at his puppeteer murderously. His body out of his control, Argorok lashed out and attacked the Fire and Ice Wizzrobes that had been allocating their power to the Summoner. Only a few lucky ones managed to warp away to safety, but Thistle immediately sent the dragon to hunt them down.

Amidst the chaos, Link and Vaati backed away from the fight. Link blinked, and slowly put his bow away. "I guess we can leave it to that crazy wizzrobe to take care of things up here?"

Vaati gave a deep frown. He knew what the wizzrobe had done, and as a fellow sorcerer he didn't like it. "That wizzrobe," he began, "that wizzrobe… his aim was to siphon energy off of the other wizzrobes to make himself powerful." Vaati would have taken that course of action himself back when he was still trying to become the greatest sorcerer in the world, but he'd believed that no mage was dumb enough to voluntarily donate his or her own Force energy to someone else. This voluntary energy transfer was semi-permanent: only if the other mage died would the donor gain his or her energy back.

" _In that case I can make you as upset as I want, for I am already as good as dead."_

The wizzrobe's comment came ringing back in Vaati's ears.  _Oh, that's right. The other wizzrobes were confident the Summoner would die after their task was over with, because the Guild had condemned him to death_. Vaati face palmed.  _Those imbeciles… the renegade must have made a convincing argument._ Vaati shrugged. "His plan all along was to gain more power."

Link nodded for a moment, but then confusion blossomed on his face. "Wait a minute. If that's all he wanted to do then why did he need us here? Couldn't he have done the same thing when Argorok first saw us outside the castle? Why go through the trouble of moving the other wizzrobes away so they wouldn't notice us, and then get them to start the attack once we were on the roofs?"

"Because I love parties. Don't you love parties too?"

Link and Vaati jumped away from Thistle who had suddenly appeared behind them. The wizzrobe shook his head in disappointment.

"Unfortunately I've yet to hear from one more person to attend. I hope he RSVPs soon, or this party won't be as fun." The wizzrobe laughed, and the other two tensed as they drew their weapons. "The last guest usually doesn't like to go out of his way to attend parties, you see. He usually only attends private parties that take place in his own home, and only when his friends bust down his door. But I thought that if he hears just how much fun we're having, he'll just  _have_  to take a look outside." Thistle looked at them coldly from behind his mask. "After all, everyone loves parties."

Vaati ground his teeth together. "You're talking about…"

XXXXXXXXX

"Lord Ganon." The Darknuts standing guard bowed and allowed the King of Darkness to pass. Ganondorf's steps thudded down the hall in slow, deliberate steps. Opal trailed behind him lifelessly like a piece of dust stuck on a broom. Ganondorf's expression became much more menacing with each thunderous crash the castle suffered from the battle above.

He stopped a poe that was unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The ghost froze up in fear and almost dropped its precious lantern when the Gerudo addressed it. "What's going on up there?"

"L-L-Lord Ganon! Master A-Argorok is currently f-f-fighting the w –"

"Tell me. Just how hard can it be to subdue one boy with a sword and one useless mage?"

"…Um, apparently extremely difficult, my Lord."

Moments later, Ganondorf was making his way up the staircase of the Northern tower that would take him to the rooftops. Unluckily for the poe, honesty had not been the best policy. At least it wouldn't have to worry about dropping its lantern anymore.

Ganondorf balled his fists in fury. He was surrounded by incompetent fools, and that fact alone made him more annoyed than anything.

He was going to finish things himself.


	29. Battle on the Roof

Neither Vaati nor Link moved a muscle. They could hear the frustrated roar of Argorok as he was forced to attack the remaining wizzrobes because of Thistle's magic. The Summoner Wizzrobe quietly watched them, occasionally flicking his wrists like a puppeteer to control the dragon.

Vaati clenched his fists. This wizzrobe wanted Ganondorf up here with them. It was a suicidal wish for a lesser minion like him, especially since he was currently picking a fight with the King of Darkness by acting as a traitor. Vaati hated creatures like this – he always made it a point to get rid of the radical ones because they tended to do crazy things like this. Link was right. This wizzrobe wasn't just out to get power; there was more to it. "What's your goal, wizzrobe?"

Thistle stirred. He answered the question with a question instead. "How are legends created?" he mused.

Vaati and Link exchanged glances. "What?"

Thistle shot a fireball towards an incoming ice shard that an Ice Wizzrobe had shot towards them out of desperation just before he was dragged along the roof by Argorok's talons. The shard evaporated into the air before it reached them. Ignoring the chaos going on around them, Thistle continued with his eyes narrowing behind his mask. "You two would know. You have to do something legendary. Outrageous. Completely unheard of."

"This sure is outrageous all right…" Link noted.

"But would that make a wizzrobe a legend? If I took either of your heads now, then would that make a 'mere wizzrobe' a legend? Because that's all I am. I've heard it so many times – 'you're a mere wizzrobe.'" Thistle's voice was beginning to take on a bitter, cruel edge. It made Link miss his giggly personality a little. "No, the credit would go to Ganondorf instead. It's unfortunate how what specie of monster you are predetermines how important you can potentially be. Look at Master Argorok." Thistle snorted, and then forced Argorok to do a loop in the air. "He's completely useless without the wizzrobes right now, yet he still stands above us in the hierarchy."

Vaati could feel his face boiling in fury. He wasn't Ganondorf, and he was happy if disasters befell that Gerudo, but at the same time he was angry at this particular wizzrobe. As someone who had once been responsible for an impressive army of monsters, a disobedient monster like this who didn't know his place made him angry. It was creatures like this that could cause utter mayhem to an otherwise good plan. "So you've turned traitor. You're going after Ganondorf's head for a little fame, are you?" he hissed.

Thistle threw his head back and roared in laughter, quickly reverting back to his initial goofy personality like someone with multiple personality syndrome. He laughed for a full minute. "Kehahahahaha – aaaahahahha!" he put one hand to his face, his shoulders shaking as he suppressed sniggers. Behind him, Argorok momentarily fell in the air with a screech as Thistle stopped controlling him for a few seconds while he laughed.

There was a painful crash as one of the towers crumbled from having over a thousand pounds of dragon dropped on it.

Thistle snickered. "Kehihi… why take only one head when I can take all three?" When Vaati and Link tensed with this news, Thistle shook his head, still sniggering. "I also heard something interesting that was being discussed with Lord Ganon and that scaly pet of his. Did you know," the wizzrobe rubbed the edge of his mask thoughtfully, "that if you, hero, or Ganondorf, or the princess dies in this era, the reincarnation cycle would end?"

Vaati gawked, while Link hesitated. "What did you say?"

"Let's say I kill you here. I would effectively be getting rid of your future self and past self, leaving you with nothing left." Thistle managed to look smug even with his mask covering his face. "None of us will ever have to deal with you coming to haunt us again and again throughout the ages."

Thistle regarded the two of them getting ready to defend against an attack. The wizzrobe sniffed. "Pfft, you two needn't worry for now. Lord Ganon is the most troublesome and I would rather be rid of him first amidst this chaos instead of you two right now. You want him gone, too, don't you? So why don't you run along and forget about me? Besides, I'm just a humble wizzrobe who isn't causing any trouble for you two right now. To be perfectly honest for once, I'm actually helping you. So why not go after something more important, like fighting Lord Ganon, hmmm?"

"And let you kill all of us when we're all worn down?" Vaati snapped.

Thistle grinned behind his mask. "So what are you going to do? Kill me now?"

"I just might."

"Kehahaha! Oh, I am so afraid of your boomerang that is only capable of stunning me! Kehahahaha!"

Vaati took a step forward angrily. "Why you little – !"

An explosion a few yards away from them interrupted their exchange. Thistle immediately stopped laughing and turned his attention towards the cloud of dust that was hovering above the roofs just three towers away from where they were. The dust cleared, revealing rubble where part of the roof had been blown up by powerful dark magic, and a menacing outline of a muscular man appeared. Ganondorf stepped through the dust, followed closely by the possessed Opal. He surveyed the chaos in silent fury, and his mouth occasionally twitched when he glanced over to the remaining Fire and Ice Wizzrobes fleeing from Argorok.

Sneaky bastard that he was, Thistle warped the hell away out of there and over to the far side of the roof to avoid being caught up in a confrontation between Link, Vaati, and Ganondorf. Now all he had to do was let the three of them fight each other to exhaustion, and then finish them all at once; he would be the insignificant little monster that had taken down the great sorcerer, the chosen hero, and the evil king at once. He would defy Fate.

Ganondorf noticed Thistle retreat, and he looked over to Argorok once again. The dragon was roaring incomprehensible curses with his lisp as he shot through the sky, controlled by the Summoner Wizzrobe. Ganondorf gave a snort, and he muttered a single curt order.

"Render, kill that pesky dragon."

"Yes, Lord Ganon."

Taking his eyes off of Ganondorf, Link pointed at the possessed girl behind him. "Hey, isn't that Opal?"

Vaati's glare was murderous as he followed Link's finger towards Opal. She was the one who had messed everything up for him! Sure she'd had good intentions by wanting to free him, but if she hadn't been so stubborn about not releasing his curse sooner then none of this would have happened. Well, it was true he had planned on killing her as soon as she'd released the curse since she'd seen him in such a humiliating state and she'd grated his nerves… but still! She should have released him anyway.

He was still bitter about the whole thing.

He forgot about his bitterness when he noticed that Opal's possessed yellow eyes were a lot larger. And her face more scaly. And her teeth more pointed. And… well… it wasn't really Opal anymore but Opal the Render. As in her real monster version as an angry black dragon. "What is that?" he asked in surprise.

"It's the Render!" Link cried.

"Huh?"

Link turned to Vaati. "Opal's an ore class monster. You know how people call boss monsters like the Molgera as 'Onyx' and the Frostare as 'Larimar?' She's one of them."

"This just keeps getting better," Vaati muttered.

The Render crouched and shot up into the air with a growl to confront Argorok. Argorok noticed the other black dragon coming his way, and he bared his teeth in a snarl. Fighting Opal would mean he would be going against Lord Ganon, but at the same time he didn't like that traitorous dragon that had fled to save her hide instead of stand and fight like he and the others had done. And to add insult to injury she'd been hiding by pretending to be one of those despicable Light Faction dwellers. With a screech, he blasted a jet of fire towards his new opponent. The Render barely managed to dodge – she was slightly larger than Argorok, and though that meant she had more power it made her much more clumsy and slow in aerial fights. Under the control of Thistle, Argorok made a full circle around the Render and came in for another attack that hit Opal squarely in the neck.

Thistle watched Opal snarl and writhe in pain from Argorok's attack, and fly away some distance to stay out of range. "Kehehehe. Bravo, Master Argorok," he giggled. He flinched when a fireball singed the edge of his robe. "Ow!"

The wizzrobe snapped his head towards the direction the fireball had come from. A Fire Wizzrobe had warped towards him, arms outstretched and burning with magical fire. "In the name of the Guild, I will dismiss you, Summoner!"

"Tch, try," Thistle tutted. Just as the Fire Wizzrobe was about to release the fireballs towards Thistle, a menacing shadow loomed over the red-robed monster. Argorok's talon crushed it to the ground, and Thistle's eerie laughter rang above the splintering groan of the roof. Unbeknownst to him, another frightening shadow had appeared behind him.

Thistle caught a glimmer of dark magic flickering behind him. He whirled around, eyes wide, and saw none other than Ganondorf standing over him menacingly.

The next few seconds were a blur. Thistle brought his hands up to defend himself, an arc of magical sparks trailing after his fingers. Ganondorf, his face contorted into a vicious snarl, brought his burning fist of dark magic down towards the lone wizzrobe. There was a sickening thud as Ganondorf's fist made contact, followed by a scream.

"Keha… kehaha." Thistle laughed weakly, and he fell down as his knees gave way. "I… I thought you would be fighting the hero and the sorcerer, Lord Ganon," he stuttered in surprise, sweat rolling down his forehead. He was completely unharmed, however.

Instead, Argorok hovered just in front of him with a look of shock and agony, and a charred hole smoking from the front of his chest. The dragon's chest plate had broken in shatters from Ganondorf's powerful attack. "Wh-what?" The spell holding Argorok upright dissipated as the dragon began to lose consciousness, and the rings holding him hostage finally vanished. With a strained hiss, Argorok collapsed to the ground and lay panting heavily. The deep purple smoke rising from his chest began to spread across his body.

Sparks crackled across the warlock's fingertips, and Ganondorf looked down at the wizzrobe hiding behind the wheezing Argorok. "One thing I tolerate even less than chosen heroes," Ganondorf growled, "is a traitor in my own army."

"Umm, maybe we can talk this out?" Thistle cringed, and scurried further away from Ganondorf's looming presence. Just when he thought it was all over, he saw a glimmer of hope in the form of a bomb making it's way towards the Dark King's face. He brightened up. "Actually, let's just stick to fighting."

"Vaati NO!"

Link's cry rang out just before the boomerang loaded with a lit bomb reached its target. There was a blinding flash and a deafening explosion as the bomb blew up just by the Gerudo's head. A few feet away, Vaati clutched the bomb bag he had snatched away from Link, his palms sweaty from nerves. "Take that, you stupid pig," the sorcerer shot, grabbing his boomerang as it returned to him. Link came running towards him and yanked the bomb bag away from him.

"That doesn't work on him you dummy!"

Vaati scowled, "Why not? Bombs work bloody well on me."

"You're not," Link took a deep breath, knowing this wasn't going to be received well, "- the same caliber as Ganondorf."

" _How dare you – !_ " Vaati was cut short when he heard Ganondorf say something quietly under his breath with strained patience.

"Kill the sorcerer first."

Vaati felt a chill run up his spine when he heard a gutteral roar above them. "Yes, Lord Ganon." He gripped his boomerang tighter when he saw the Render's jaws just a few feet away from them. Opal brought her lifeless yellow eyes closer to the sorcerer. "Dieee."

XXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Argorok could feel each breath become labored as Ganondorf's dark magic ate away his life. To think he would die like this – a puppet to defend the one his lord wanted to destroy – it was humiliating. His senses were becoming numb, and he could only make out a fuzzy outline of Ganondorf standing angrily over him.

_I have… failed sssso many timessss._

It broke his confidence to think he had been given a second chance to redeem himself after his first defeat, only to return as a nuisance under the hand of that bastard wizzrobe. Could he have done something? Should he have put an end to the Summoner Wizzrobe earlier?

But… even if he had done that he doubted Lord Ganon would have been pleased with him.  _There wassss… nothing I could have done._

Argorok growled, blood dripping between his teeth and parts of his snout disappearing into purple smoke. Monsters vanished into smoke when they died – he didn't know if the evidence that he truly was going to die scared or saddened him. Realizing there was nothing he could do to stop his end, Argorok ignored the pain and wrenched his neck backwards to look at the Summoner Wizzrobe collapsed onto the roof, peering at Ganondorf in fright.  _Ha. Sssso you do know fear._

With one last effort, Argorok swung his tail with a roar and slammed it against the renegade wizard. Thistle yelped as he was flung forcefully towards Ganondorf, who caught him by the neck. Argorok laid down to rest as Thistle struggled under the Dark King's iron grip. "Master Argorok, how could you? Ack!" The dragon smiled inwardly when the wizzrobe choked and gasped. _Sssserves you right._

Just before he lost consciousness, Argorok looked up at Ganondorf one last time.

_At leasssst I died in the handssss of my Lord._

_Long live the King of Darknessss…_

XXXXXXXX

 _How do I beat her without killing her? How do I beat her without killing her? I DON'T KNOW HOW TO BEAT PEOPLE WITHOUT KILLING PEOPLE._ Vaati stood frozen on the spot, unsure of how to handle the situation. First, he was facing a possessed dragon that was out to kill him. Second, he needed to find a way to subdue the dragon instead of killing it because he needed her help to regain his sorcery, and subduing anything instead of killing it was a whole world harder.

And he had enough trouble thinking of a way to kill it anyway, so it was going to be freaking impossible to subdue it.

He saw Link charge towards the Render with the newly restored Master Sword. "Link if you kill her we are  _stuck_  here!"

Link stopped charging. "But she'll kill us if we don't do something." He paused and thought about his phrasing, and then a light went off in his head. "Oh wait. I guess she's only out to kill you."

"That's not good! Don't be satisfied!" Vaati yelled, rolling away from a claw swipe. He dashed away to safety when Opal landed with a shaking thud onto the roof. During their adventure, he had mastered the art of dodging and running away. It pained him to think about how he was reduced to running away from things now, when before he had other things running away from him.

It made him frustrated, and when he was frustrated (and desperate to boot), he tended to be shouty. And angry.

Vaati dug his heel onto the tiles of the roof, whirled around, and fearlessly pointed a finger at the Render snapping at him. "You said I helped you once, and you were going to return the favor." He spread his arms wide, ignoring how dangerously close he was to teeth that could easily snap him in two. Vaati didn't pay attention to Link who was trying to tell him to get back. "Dear Farore you call this returning the favor? _!_  You  _cursed_  me, you stupid, blundering lizard!"

Just when Link had accepted the fact that he was going to have to go solo from here on out, Opal stopped abruptly. Instead of biting the furious wind mage in half, the dragon winced backwards and growled in something close to frustration. There was a tense moment when it appeared as though the Render was going to snap out of it and kill Vaati anyway per Ganondorf's orders, but then the dragon took a shaky step backwards and roared. Opal shook her head like she was trying to shake away voices and fighting a mental battle. The dragon crazily slammed her head against one of the last remaining towers in frenzy.

Link watched Vaati standing triumphantly in front of the suffering dragon in awe. "Wow… I didn't think that would work." He never would have thought scolding a powerful monster like that would be effective.

Suddenly, a queer ripple shot through the horizon; it was something like what he had seen when he and Vaati had first been sent to the future. "Oh no. Not again." He slowly brought his eyes up to the sky when he felt a drizzle of water hit his cheeks. What he saw made him want to go to sleep and pretend it was all a dream. "Crap, this is worse than last time."

XXXXXXXXXX

Thistle dangled helplessly in a chokehold by Ganondorf himself. The wizzrobe hadn't expected him to be the very first target to be marked; he had only ever known a life where no one expected him to be important enough to kill immediately. Now the King of Darkness thought he was a big enough nuisance to warrant immediate erasure.

 _Well that's what I wanted. It's one step in the right direction! Kehihi_ , Thistle chuckled to himself. He couldn't chuckle aloud anymore since his windpipe was being strangled.

"You're not even worth my time," Ganondorf sneered. "You should be honored I'm going to kill you personally."

"So... very honored. Geha!" Thistle could feel himself starting to black out from lack of oxygen. He felt the hands release his neck and he took the moment to take a large gulp of air. Right after the temporary relief, however, a powerful punch cracked the side of his mask and he was given a mean and painful introduction to the roof tiles. He almost lost consciousness, but he stubbornly held onto it. Thistle gingerly tapped the side of his face, and frowned at the spider silk line that was slashed against his toucan mask. Ganondorf hadn't even bothered using warlock magic; he obviously didn't intend to give him a quick death.

Thistle tried to stand up, and then slipped on the roof when it suddenly became wet from the rain.  _Hmm? Was rain ever this… salty?_  The renegade wizzrobe looked up and saw a bizarre sky. There was a rift in the air above the castle that was releasing a torrent of water, and it was increasing in volume every second. More rifts were appearing throughout the sky.

It was like waterfalls dropping from the air.

With terrifying speed, the plains around the castle quickly became flooded with water until the treetops looked like islands. In a span of a few seconds, even the trees became completely submerged. The water was rising and it wasn't looking like it was going to stop.

"Kehaha, what a troublesome pet you have there, Lord Ganon." Thistle nodded towards the Render that had been given orders to get rid of Vaati. The dragon was now curled over, and rifts occasionally flashed outwards from its spikes and contributed to the growing waterfalls. It clawed at the roof in front of Vaati in agony, but it never succeeded in reaching the sorcerer. Vaati, who had appeared victorious earlier, was now looking around worriedly.

" _Stop this at once!_ " Ganondorf roared at the Render above the raging waters. It was too late, however, and the water had already reached the edge of the roof.

Thistle snickered, and then looked down with a serious expression. He could guess what was going on – time was warping, and those who weren't under the influence of the Triforce would no doubt be erased. He didn't know what happened to those who did get erased – maybe they forgot about the events that had happened? Maybe they were stuck in limbo in some timeless zone? Who knew? Either way, Thistle knew that he didn't want to be left out of this. He wanted to be the one to take down Ganondorf, Link, and Vaati when he was so close to achieving his goal.

The only way out of this for him was to replicate the Render's ability and warp time himself. Thistle regarded his hands, and watched magic crackle between his fingertips. He had gathered enough energy from his fellow wizzrobes for this purpose; to become the ultimate Summoner who could summon powerful creatures across time. Not only that, but perhaps dethrone Vaati to be the most powerful sorcerer of all time.

And to do it his plan had been to master the Render's time distorting ability using an alteration of the warping spell.

 _No practice and straight to the real thing, huh?_ Thistle chuckled lightly even though his throat still hurt from being choked by Ganondorf.  _All right, let's wing it. Kehahaha!_

XXXXXXXX

Link ran over to Vaati and dragged him away from the Render. "What did you do?" he asked as he wiped the water out of his eyes. It was salty, and stung his eyes a little.

"How should I know?" Vaati snapped. He became quiet when a purple shark blipped into existence next to him and began to flail about. It flopped around on the roof, and then swam away when it reached the steadily rising water. "Link, do you know how to swim?"

"Ummm…" Link stopped in front of one of the crumbled towers and jumped up onto the broken bricks in an effort to reach high ground. Vaati followed after him, but the water was already swirling around their ankles and it wasn't slowing down.

"Because we're going to have to learn how to swim very soon."

The raging water tugged at their legs, and within a few seconds it pulled them with an overwhelming force of current and the two blacked out within the onslaught of hundreds of tons of sea water pouring into Hyrule.


	30. Beginnings in the New Age

Link and Vaati sat next to each other, watching the waves roll over their feet dismally. They had been like this for the past hour, sitting in silence, counting each wave as it lapped against the stone walkway they had woken up on. Neither Ganondorf nor the Render were anywhere in sight.

Vaati wasn't sure how he and Link had managed to survive. He remembered experiencing that stomach curdling experience of being pulled through a portal, and figured the Render may have sent them somewhere relatively safe with whatever remaining consciousness she had.

The sorcerer smiled weakly. "What a future, huh?"

"Hm?" Link continued to stare blankly at the endless blue. He thought about Hyrule; the market place where he would buy apples with his allowance, the maids at the castle who would occasionally give him an early lunch, working with his grandpa to complete a new sword, and playing with Zelda. Hyrule had gone below the watery depths, and he wasn't sure if he'll ever see it again.

Vaati uncharacteristically attempted to cheer them up, "At least we're back to normal. See, we look exactly like how we had been back in the past." He frowned momentarily, looking down at his feet. "Not that I particularly minded being tall for once."

Link just sat in misery, letting the sloshing noise of the waves drown out Vaati's voice. If the grumpy mage was trying to be cheery, it could only mean that the situation was so bleak even Vaati had to find ways to make it seem bearable.

Vaati became thoughtful as he looked towards the horizon, ignoring Link occupied by his own misery. "I've always wanted to see the ocean," he mused, "I never imagined it to be so vast…." His voice contained awe, but it cracked in some parts as though he were forcing himself to keep talking. "I wonder if anything's out there."

Link sighed and stood up, walked around the edge of the impressive stone tower they were currently on, came back to where he had been sitting, and flopped morosely back down next to the mage. "What's the point?" He asked as he put his head between his knees. "Everything's gone, Opal may have died, and we may never get back. What's the point?" Link looked up. "And if Zelda died, then she'll never come back in any incarnation. I'll never see her again. Never."

Normally, Vaati would have probably given Link a nasty remark or gloated from the hero's misery. However, this time his eyes softened sympathetically. It was hard on Vaati, too. The wind mage sat down and splashed some water with his feet. "It's not over yet, boy. Hyrule still exists, I'm sure of it," he said quietly, "and we just have to go find it."

XXXXXXXXX

A jet of blue flame escaped her jaws as the Render bared her teeth in a vicious snarl. Opal shook her head to get rid of whatever water was left on her face, making the chains around her neck rattle heavily. Lord Ganon had not been too pleased she had let Link and Vaati escape, and he had been absolutely furious when he'd found out she had also flooded Hyrule.

Well how was she supposed to know the future was so waterlogged?

There was another slash, this time across the neck where Argorok had managed to give her a burn. The Render screeched in retaliation only to receive another lash across the eyes.

Ganondorf was anything but pleased right now. The only thing he was remotely okay with was the fact she had been able to remove the water around Hyrule castle… remotely pleased, because they were still miles underwater in a small air bubble that kept them from drowning.

Subdued, the dragon stopped struggling and slunk over against the wall. She'd become tired from all the mental energy she'd used to go against Ganondorf's direct orders to kill Vaati. At least she'd sent the reckless idiots far above the water. As long as they didn't attempt to find Hyrule again they would be okay. The dragon yawned. She was so Tired with a capital T. Even the pain of Ganondorf's punishment was becoming numb from her mind shutting down.

So… tired…

It was probably then that the Render finally cracked. That small, egging and annoyingly commanding voice of Ganondorf's spell that possessed the monster began to ring louder in her head.  _Kill. Kill the Hero. Kill Vaati._

The mantra mixed with another voice that had long been buried in the past. That vicious one not yet softened with experience she'd unwittingly gained from hiding among the Hylians.  _Kill the Worthless._

The dragon snarled. "Kill… the worthless."

XXXXXXXX

Ganondorf took a walk around Hyrule castle after he had dished out punishment to the troublesome monster. He reached out and touched the wall of water that outlined the perimeters of the castle grounds and some portions of Hyrule field. His fists came together in frustration, and he punched the wall of water. A mist splashed against his fist from the impact.

He couldn't kill the Render without jeopardizing his ability to go back to his era where Hyrule existed as Hyrule. He also didn't want to order the beast to take them back in time without risking another mistake like the one they now found themselves in. The dragon wasn't mentally stable right now, and he figured part of the problem was Vaati. If he could get rid of Vaati, then the Render would be a little more controllable.

Ganondorf looked up to see the water bending the light above them. He'll wait for Link and Vaati to come; they were sure to come looking for him. After they were destroyed, he would make Opal take him back to a Link-less past, and then kill her as well to punish her for all the trouble she had caused him.

The Dark King grinned. At least he still had Zelda. He was so close, so close to ending everything and finally obtaining all three pieces of the Triforce he couldn't let the opportunity slip through his fingers. Ganondorf leaned against a marble pillar.

He could be patient if he wanted to be.

XXXXXXX

"Geha!  _Hack cough cough HACK!_ "

Thistle coughed out seawater as he rolled over onto a sandy beach. He crawled up away from the water, and he saw that he had washed up on a developed island town. There was a large windmill in the center of the island with brick buildings daintily standing around it, and all the way on the other side of his beach was harbor he could barely make out. A large ship with a pirate flag was hidden in a cove next to him. For several minutes, Thistle lay sprawled out on the ground, not caring if the sand got all over his robes.  _I… I did it._

He watched the clouds float by above him, and he thought about his position now. All his life he had followed Guild rules, and now he had finally escaped it. Escaped all of those foolish wizzrobes who knew nothing – thought nothing of why the rules existed at all. Thistle's road to becoming a renegade started when he first began to wonder the reasoning behind the Guild Laws. He was always told on how the rules existed to protect the wizzrobes from committing magical suicide, or accidentally blowing themselves up, but he became suspicious when he survived after he started breaking a few rules.

The first time he broke a cardinal rule was when he performed an Ice Spell while he was a Fire Wizzrobe. He'd become bored, and was jealous of the new Ice Wizzrobes. It had seemed like fun to see the wizzrobes freezing enemies, and watching the ice shatter to pieces when they were casually knocked down. Thistle had decided it was better to die trying than to eternally be consumed by jealousy.

He hadn't died. He hadn't even come remotely close to having his brains blown out from the presumed stress caused by performing two elemental spells. Before the Guild could catch him and kill him, Thistle had switched over to blue robes and claimed he was no longer a Fire Wizzrobe but an Ice Wizzrobe. The Guild believed him. After all, the Guild was a little naïve in that sense: after so many hundreds of years of not dealing with renegades, it had become that trusting, unknowing parent of a frightfully disobedient child.

A child who gets away with one bad deed becomes bold in doing other bad deeds. Thistle managed to talk his way into becoming a Summoner Wizzrobe, which was one of the rarer and more advanced kinds because of the ability to summon more wizzrobes and other monsters. Not that he particularly wanted to summon even more wizzrobes, but he'd been thrilled when he got away with mastering two elementals as well as summons. He garbed himself with a purple robe: a symbol of being both Fire and Ice, and also the color of royalty, which he strived to reach. He'd proven to himself that the Guild Laws were stupid.

Maybe he should give himself a name to rub it in their faces.

_My name is Thistle._

The first thing the wizzrobes stripped new recruits were their names. Well, the reasoning behind this was because of the way wizzrobes were recruited. They were originally people of the Light Faction who, for one desperate reason or another, wanted access to sorcery thinking it would make their lives better. They would agree to a pact with a demon, and they would become a slave to the demon for as long as they lived.

At least, that's what they were told. What they never found out was that their souls were consumed completely so that only the demon remained, traipsing around in their bodies. The new wizzrobes then rid themselves of their names and hid their faces with a mask or a cloth so that they would never regain a sense of individuality, or remember any attachments the host may have had.

In that sense, the Guild law to squash individuality made sense for Thistle. However, it became an annoying idea when he saw it as a ploy to prevent any one wizzrobe from becoming more powerful than the rest. Individuality was a scary thing – it made people compare each other, and once people started comparing then they wanted to be better than others. When Thistle realized this, he wanted nothing more than to regain individuality.

And now… he'd finally done it. He'd broken away from the restrictions of the Guild, and now he had so many opportunities open to him. He felt giddy just thinking about all the new summons he could do; all the pure  _sorcery_ he could do. Now that he knew the tricks behind the Render's magic, why, he could say he was the Render's equivalent! Equivalent with an ore class mons... er, well, maybe that was taking it a little too far.

The renegade wizzrobe slowly looked up, blinking from the bright sun that reflected over the water that extended out across the horizon. It was larger than any lake he had ever seen.  _This must be the ocean_.

It was so vast, so empty. So lonely. If this was the future, it was bleak indeed. He felt slightly homesick, and momentarily wondered if it really was a good idea to attempt to follow the Render, Link, Vaati, and Lord Ganon across time. Thistle laughed. When in doubt, it was good to laugh.

It was then he noticed something very weird about his face. It was the way his reflection looked in the water. Thistle brought his face closer to the water's surface, and gingerly brought his fingers to the side of his face. What he found made him completely speechless.

His mask was no longer just a mask. His mask was his face.

"Keha…ha. Ha?"

He touched his face, and touched his face again to make sure what he was seeing was really true. He quickly summoned a mirror so he could see his face better than in the waves.

It was as though his mask and the features of his real face had combined. There was a thin scar running across his left eye where Ganondorf had cracked the mask, and just below his right eye was a small black dot that corresponded to the mole he had on his real face. His bright green eyes had merged with the mask as well, and his bottom lips had extended to become the lower half of his beak.

Thistle stared at his reflection for a few more minutes, and he sat down on the beach as he tilted his head this way and that to observe this new change. Then, he tossed the mirror over his shoulder. "I suppose changing appearances was the setback to this time warping spell." He jumped back onto his feet. "If I was going to be turned into a bird then couldn't I at least have grown wings as well? Pffft."

It had been a shock at first, but Thistle was a wizzrobe and wizzrobes tended to see the jokes in life fairly easily. Which also meant he got over it quickly. It was a shame he lost his pretty face, but this new one was interesting and would do for now.

"I wonder where Lord Vaati is?" Thistle frowned. Or, tried to. It was a little difficult to frown with a beak. "Maybe I messed up the coordinates? I was focusing too much on getting the era right… and where is Hyrule?" the Summoner Wizzrobe began to wander off into the center of the island, mumbling to himself.

He didn't make it very far before he was stopped by a large group of townspeople gathered in front of him with pitchforks, swords, frying pans, and whatever weapon they could grab from their house. He stared at them for a few seconds, and then waved in a friendly manner. They all flinched backwards. Some of them ran away in fright.

"It's a monster!"

"A monster is loose on the island!"

"Oh dear Nayru you weren't joking when you said there was a monster on the beach…"

"Aaaah, it's going to kill us all!"

Thistle scratched his head. He was but one little wizzrobe lost in the middle of the ocean. How threatening could he be? "Excuse me? Can we all please calm down?"

"It speaks!"

"Don't listen to its words, it'll probably curse you!"

"Kehaha! Well, if I was to curse you I definitely could." Thistle laughed. He laughed even more when everyone fell into a shocked silence at his words. "Any volunteers to have an Octorok permanently summoned to the back of their heads?" This was so much fun. The weaklings of the Light Faction were always so hilarious. The weak ones of the Dark Faction knew how to defend themselves even if they were on the bottom of the hierarchy – he never really understood how the ones at the bottom of the Light Faction could stand being so helpless.

One brave sailor stepped forward with his saber. "We have to kill it. For the safety of Windfall Island."

Thistle noted the tremor in the man's voice. He grinned. "If I take that as a challenge, I'll have to destroy every one of you. Should I take that as a challenge?" Thistle summoned a fireball in his hand to demonstrate.

The sailor hesitated, and glanced back at the remaining group of townspeople uncertainly.

The Summoner Wizzrobe decided to help. "Alternatively, you can lock me up in jail," he pointed to the prison that was located on the edge of town near to where they were standing, "and I promise I'll sit there quietly and not make any trouble." He wanted a quiet place to think about what to do next, anyway, and he decided that the jail would be the place he would be bothered the least. Besides, all of this bright, happy sunlight wasn't where he felt most comfortable. Monsters tended to prefer dark temples and gloomy castles.

There were whispers among the crowd.

"Should we trust him?"

"He can't be trusted!"

"He'll probably kill us anyway…"

"Then do you want me to kill you now?" Thistle asked cheerily in response to the last comment.

The answer was an adamant no. No, they didn't want to be killed now thank you. Would Mr. Wizzrobe please sit peacefully in the jail until we figure out what to do with you?

Later that day, Thistle the Summoner Wizzrobe became the first monster on Windfall Island to be secured in prison.


	31. The Wind Waker

Link, the legendary hero and Vaati, the Sorcerer of Winds, sat next to each other, legs dangling into the ocean water. It was a strange sight to see sworn enemies sitting next to each other without either of them trying to end the other's life, but after recent events, neither was in the mood to fight.

It had come as a shock to see the land of Hyrule completely submerged under the ocean.

Vaati's hand strayed over to where his boomerang had been; he felt calm whenever he had it in his hands because he didn't feel completely helpless. He was surprised when his hands hit fabric instead of the smooth blades of the boomerang. "What?" The mage's voice sliced through the silence, causing Link to look up for the first time in a while since they had arrived on the ocean. The sorcerer began to look frantically about his tunic to find the Gale Boomerang, and then dejectedly gave up when he couldn't find it anywhere.

Vaati sighed, and put his hands up to his face. "I should've known. Your inventory must've changed again, Link." He wearily turned to the depressed Link. "All right, let's take a look at what you've got. If we're going to get started I might as well get another weapon from you."

Link said nothing, but took out his pouch and emptied its contents onto the stone walkway they were on that surrounded the floating tower.

Some of the items were the ones they were already familiar with, but many things were new. Vaati picked up a large leaf and shrugged. "A leaf. Really, Link, you collect the strangest things." Vaati watched Link sulk in silence. He wasn't used to dealing with a sulky, defeated hero. It offended him a little, to think his eternal rival was someone so pathetic. The mage frowned, "Don't make me come over there and punch you so hard you won't be able to remember anything but pain. Snap out of it, boy."

Link continued to stare out across the sea. Vaati muttered something and continued to rifle through the items. There was a bag of bombs, a telescope, a pair of bracelets, a rope with metal claws at the end, something that looked like a clawshot except with the ends tapered to a point ("a hookshot," Link had mumbled), a rather macabre hammer, and a bow.

Vaati couldn't find use for any of them, except maybe the bombs. Seeing how ineffective they were towards Ganondorf, however, he wasn't too thrilled about handling them. He didn't want to be second next to that Gerudo scum. Vaati growled as he heaved a pair of iron boots towards the rest of the weapons he had deemed 'useless.'

"Link, if you're feeling so miserable you can do me a favor and jump in the ocean with these iron boots on. You might find Hyrule on the way down." He huffed from the effort of carrying the iron boots. As he set them down, he paused when he saw something he had missed. There was a thin, silver object hidden underneath the leaf he had tossed away earlier. Picking it up, he realized it was a baton.

Link stirred as he gradually began to recover from his misery. He found it was hard to stay depressed with Vaati constantly trying to annoy him. "Hm? What about this boomerang?" Link picked up an orange boomerang that looked exactly like the one he had used back in his time. Vaati appeared to have neglected it, even though he had been attached to the Gale Boomerang in the previous era.

Vaati waved him away, annoyed. "That boomerang is too ordinary. I deserve better." He quickly turned to the baton that was in his hands, and he turned it over with excitement flashing across his red eyes. It was magical, and even better, he could feel it held more command over the wind than his old boomerang. He could just feel the skin over his palms tingle from being so close to the baton. "Ah, I think I've found something."

Link's curiosity got the better of him, and the last traces of his depression left his face as he leaned forward with interest. "What's that?"

Vaati grinned smugly, "Watch." The mage closed his eyes, feeling the salty ocean breeze tug at his hair as he brought the baton up in the air. Even though he wasn't sure how to use the object, he followed his instinct as a wind mage. Vaati flicked the baton in several directions and caused a strong wind to blow steadily north. A few more flicks and there were a couple of tornadoes spiraling in the distance. Vaati exhaled and smiled broadly as he watched the seawater funneling up into the sky through the tornadoes. He almost had full control of the winds now, and it felt great.

Link sat open-mouthed in surprise. That dangerous little glint in Vaati's eye that had long since disappeared since he had lost his sorcery was coming back again. Where once he only had that look of mild defeat, frustration, and regretful acceptance of the situation, now there was that plotting expression of a maniac who had just discovered newfound opportunities. Link's hand strayed to his sword, just in case. He was pretty sure that Vaati would be too preoccupied with trying to get back at Ganondorf and make a full recovery of his magic, but there was that 5 percent chance he would do something stupid and drastic.

And he was right…

Vaati's ears pricked at the sound of Link's movement. There was a big, devious grin on his face as he slowly turned around, his cape billowing dramatically behind him thanks to the wind he had summoned. He looked like a kid who'd found a bunch of flowers to step on. "What's with that pathetic look on your face, hero boy?"

Link sighed.  _Here we go again._

The blond gasped as a powerful wind struck him backwards, and he dug his feet into the ground to avoid being swept into the ocean. He was barely able to keep his eyes open from the gale.

Apparently Vaati hadn't been the cause of the wind, however, and Link was surprised to see that the sorcerer was also spluttering from the sudden gust. When it died down, Vaati whipped his hair away from his face in a flustered fashion. The wind mage took startled step back when he noticed a bluish-green frog about four feet high sitting on a cloud in front of him. It began to babble in a strange tongue, gesticulating wildly and pointing at the baton in the mage's hands from time to time.

"What do you want?" Vaati snapped as he created a gust that pushed the frog away from him. The frog abruptly became quiet, and then began to laugh.

"Well I'll be, someone who still talks the ancient language! You're not from around, are ye? The name's Zephos, nice to make your acquaintance, kid." The frog tilted its head as it Vaati bristled at being called a kid. Zephos chuckled at his reaction, and then looked at Link, again babbling in a language they couldn't understand. From his amiability, it seemed like Zephos had met Link before.

Link tried to ignore the fact he was talking with a giant, floating frog. "Um, Zephos? Do I know you? I've uh… lost – "

Zephos zipped forward towards Link, threatening to topple him backwards in surprise. "You too?" he croaked, "You never told me you could understand what the old ones speak." The frog took a closer look at the startled boy. After a few minutes of scrutiny, it backed away while rubbing its chin. "Hmmm, you're not quite the same… person. The same, but different," the frog nodded to himself. It shrugged, and zipped back in front of Vaati. "Anyway," it waved excitedly at the sorcerer's baton, "you've got some talent over the winds, even better than the green one here. I like you, kid! Some rough winds you've got going there. Just remember not to abuse it."

"Hold on here, who the hell are you?" Vaati demanded angrily.

Zephos blinked, and then chuckled. "Kid, you should watch your mouth. Some of us aren't as nice as I am." The frog cleared his throat and puffed out its chest. "I'm the god of winds. The baton you hold is none other than the Wind Waker."

Vaati looked skeptical. "God of winds? Since when has there been one of those?"

"Really, if you talked to my brother that way I'm not sure you would get away with it," Zephos shook his head, smiling. "Just know that gods don't normally pop up in front of mortals. It's not surprising you haven't heard of me. Which brings me to my next question," the frog's eyes squinted and he rounded on Vaati, "how is it you know so much about the winds, kid?"

"Because I'm the Wind Sorcerer Vaati, that's why!" the mage blurted out.

Beside him, Link groaned. The ever reckless Vaati had blown his cover, and to a god no less. Link looked from the stunned Zephos to the confident mage, wondering what was going to happen next.

The wind god finally rubbed his chin, "Curious.  _The_  Wind Sorcerer Vaati? The one who gave Hyrule almost as much trouble as the King of Darkness? Kid, that's a little hard to believe, but now that you mention it…" Zephos looked Vaati in the eyes sternly, causing the mage to back up a little, "you do look a little familiar."

Vaati recollected himself and stood as proudly as he could. There was a nagging little voice in the back of his head telling him it wasn't a good idea to catch the attention of a god in his current state, but another part of him swelled with pride at being recognized as someone powerful. He ignored the nagging voice; he felt like he needed to brag after all this time of being made fun of by Link, Ganondorf, Opal, a freaking wizzrobe…  _everyone_. "Of course.  _I'm_ the one who turned the princess of Hyrule to stone at the Picori Festival and sent monsters all over the land.  _I'm_ the one who kidnapped all of the maidens in Hyrule.  _I'm_ the one," he struck his thumb towards his chest, "who nearly succeeded in turning Hyrule into the land of darkness."

"That's nothing to be proud of, kid." Link and Vaati both flinched from Zephos' suddenly severe tone. "I would give you a good beating myself if I couldn't see you've already paid for it."

Link looked up, confused. He recalled how Vaati had turned against him with that crazed look in his eye when he'd gotten his hands on the Wind Waker. "How do you know you shouldn't punish him?"

"Idiot, don't encourage him!"

Zephos smiled again. He wasn't the type to stay upset for too long. Zephos addressed Vaati. "Well, you're traveling with someone who has done a great service by defeating the King of Darkness. If the hero trusts someone like  _you_ , kid, then there has to be a good reason. Besides, you're obviously not at your full potential, and he even let you handle his Wind Waker."

At this, Link groaned. It wasn't like he had willingly let Vaati have the Wind Waker while knowing what it was. Vaati had just gone through his belongings and had taken it for himself, while he had been sitting morosely by the corner, gloomy about the situation.  _And who's fault was that, huh? Yup, mine…_

It was almost better to have let Vaati take the bombs this time.

Zephos continued, not noticing Link's abashed look. "It's been several thousand years; I wouldn't be surprised if you've changed."

Link opened his mouth to speak. "Actually, I don't really trust him, and he keeps trying to ki… er… I mean…" Link paused as he noticed Vaati glaring daggers at him. He thought of how maintaining a level of truce between him and the sorcerer would be key in making through this ordeal. While Zephos could probably punish Vaati, he doubted this friendly god would actually get rid of him. That would mean Link would still have to deal with Vaati, and it would just make things harder if Vaati was in a sour mood. "Uhhh… yeah… we get along like best buddies."

The frog chuckled, unaware of the bristling tension between the two 'buddies.' "Good, good, then I give you permission to use the Wind Waker, sorcerer," he nodded satisfactorily. "It's been a while since I've seen someone use it with such expertise. The hero kid was good with it, but wasn't even close to the level you're at. Now good luck, but before that," Zephos snapped his fingers, and Link and Vaati began to cough and choke. "Yep, a rather nasty side effect, but it had to be done. Seems like you two can't speak the modern language, eh? Well, now you can. Don't bother thanking me." The frog continued to laugh as it flew away into the sky.

Vaati looked miffed as he ruffled his cape and narrowed his eyes at the empty space where Zephos had been. "I really hate divine beings." Vaati said under his breath.

Link was in the process of putting away the items Vaati had rejected. He was almost as annoyed as Vaati. "So Zephos just popped in to say hello and left us here with no leads to find Ganondorf or Hyrule. If he was a god, the least he could've done was to give us a few hints." Link shielded his eyes from the sun as he observed the tower that was in front of them. "Do you think we should take a look?"

"Here? No, I'd rather go somewhere else." Vaati waved the Wind Waker a few times and changed the direction of the wind. He no longer seemed interested in causing trouble for Link. Perhaps the appearance of the god of winds had troubled him a little.

"The tower looks pretty important though."

The wind became more powerful as it whipped around them. "But it's old, Link, and it looks like nobody is here. We'll need to go to a place with people if we want information on anything peculiar that has occurred recently." The Wind Waker circled and the air spiraled.

Link held onto his hat as the wind increased its speed. "How are we going to get out of this place?" he shouted over the noise. The blond froze when he saw Vaati grin wickedly. Just because Zephos had appeared didn't mean the sorcerer was going to play nice again. "No way," Link faltered when he saw the beginnings of a tornado around them.

The mage nodded. "That's right, boy."

XXXXXXXXXX

Thistle looked around his jail cell approvingly as he sat atop one of the many boxes in the cell. He carried around a skull he had found in the corner and played with it in his hands. As expected from a small island community, there was only one jail cell and he was currently the only inmate. The townspeople had all scattered away as soon as he'd waltzed into the prison, because they had been afraid of him. He was pretty sure no one would come and bother him for a while; the residents were probably hoping he was just a bad dream, and would try to forget about his existence as long as he didn't cause trouble. 'Out of sight, out of mind,' is what they would say. He could plot all he wanted in his personal room with his skull companion.

"If I want to be as renowned as Lord Ganon or Lord Vaati," Thistle said aloud to the skull in his hands, "I'll need minions. That means I'll need to summon them. But I can't just have any minion," he tossed the skull into the air as he continued conversationally, "I'm going to need a few really powerful monsters under my command. The question is, who do I recruit now?" He accidentally dropped the skull when he tried to catch it on the way down. It rolled away from him and stopped when it hit one of the boxes in the cell. Thistle walked over to pick it up, and as he bent over he noticed a small hole in the wall that was hidden behind the box.

"Curious." He lit the box on fire, revealing a tunnel leading out of the jail. Thistle grinned. "Someone before me has done some sneaking around. Curious." He kicked the skull away. "Thanks for the find, my skeletal friend."

The wizzrobe crawled through the tunnel, occasionally running into a few rats that showed no interest in him. After a while, he came across a circular room with old books and papers strewn around. There was an emptied treasure chest in the corner, and a headstone with a bunch of words scrawled all over it. Thistle showed moderate interest in the books, but quickly lost interest when he realized it was all about something called a pictograph box.

He was more interested in the small ray of light that was leaking in from the ceiling. It seemed this chamber was just below someone's house, and the light was coming through the floorboards. Enjoying the exploration, Thistle hovered close and peeked through the hole in the ceiling of the chamber.

Thistle could make out a museum-like room full of various pictographs all along the walls. They were very well taken, and some of the pictographs were of legendary characters such as a fierce Molgera exploding out of the sands and another pictograph of the Great Deku Tree. He was especially shocked when he saw one of Ganondorf himself – it was still blurry and it was old, but whoever had taken these had a lot of skill at being sneaky with pictographs.

But what luck! He could use these pictographs to get an idea on who to summon. Of course he wouldn't summon Ganondorf; that was a stupid idea and he wasn't even sure it was possible. His eye swiveled as it surveyed the room, trying to get a glimpse of more pictographs with legendary monsters. The Molgera looked like a good candidate, but he wasn't sure it had the intelligence he wanted out of a summon. He wanted someone powerful, smart, and dangerous.

Thistle's eye peering through the hole in the ceiling of his prison chamber stopped roving when he saw the pictograph next to Ganondorf's. It was but a silhouette of a large, predatory bird with a trailing tail flying over the ocean. He could faintly make out the words "Helmaroc King" on the plaque below the pictograph hanging on the wall.

He didn't need any more time. He made his decision. He was going to summon the Helmaroc King and they were going to wreak havoc everywhere. And if he found Vaati, Link, or Ganondorf, then he was going to get rid of them.

Thistle laughed, giddy from excitement, and he warped out of the secret chamber and back to his jail cell. He rubbed his hands together. He was the first wizzrobe to ever manage an advanced time warp spell, and now he was going to be the first wizzrobe ever to attempt an advanced summons. He could do everything the Render could do, and more! Maybe he could even fight on the same level as Lord Vaati?

Thistle snickered again, covering his beak with his hands. "Kehihi!"

XXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, Link and Vaati arrived at a small island town sometime past noon. A windmill at the center of the village took up most of the island, and quaint whitewashed houses lined the cobblestone streets. Several stray pigs ran away at the sight of the drenched travelers. In fact, it was Windfall Island – the exact same island Thistle arrived at a little earlier. They weren't aware the troublesome wizzrobe was plotting away just a couple dozen yards away from them in the town jail cell.

"I don't believe it, you messed up," Link griped as he wiped salt water from his face. Vaati was nonplussed, but he refused to show it.

"It's a bit different than what I usually do, okay? The cyclone was harder to control than I expected." He sloshed his way towards land. "At least I got us to an island town… somewhere."

"So we're lost too. Brilliant"

Vaati glowered. "At the moment, yes. That's why we're going to ask the people on that ship."

Link arched his eyebrows at the ship Vaati was pointing to. It was docked beside a cliff in a half-hearted attempt to make it hidden from the town, and sported hefty canons complete with a mast that was emblazoned with cutlasses. "You know that's a pirate ship, I hope?" Link asked uneasily.

The mage shrugged. "Hmph. They're just people, Link. Scare them enough and they'll listen to you. We might get their ship, even."

Link sighed in disbelief. He decided to follow the water soaked mage towards the ship. This might be interesting to watch: from a safe distance at least.


	32. The Captain and the King

A few flicks with the Wind Waker and both Link and Vaati were dry and ready to meet the owners of the pirate ship. Vaati led the way and stormed towards the ship, going so far as to change the wind's direction to blow from behind him so the pirates would have trouble keeping their eyes open. He claimed it would make him appear more intimidating. Link turned his head skyward and said nothing. The boy in green didn't bother pointing out that their short stature was a severe handicap in appearing scary.

The mage hopped onto the ship from the cliff, while Link remained behind and watched from above. Vaati gave two brisk knocks on the cabin door. "Open up, I have a few questions."

There was a faint rustle of footsteps, and then the door slammed open, revealing a bulky pirate with a weatherworn dark green shirt. His nose was sunburned a raw red, and though his mouth appeared fixed in a perpetual frown, Vaati could see the man was panic-stricken from the way his eyes wandered aimlessly. "We're busy now, yeah? Come back another time if you want us to mug your stuff."

Vaati stuck out his foot, preventing the man from closing the door. "Hold there. I have a question, and depending on your answer, I'll ask you for your ship." He smiled deviously. "I won't let you refuse."

The pirate was now genuinely upset. "Now look here, I don't appreciate your attitude. If you don't leave now, brat, I'll chuck you off the ship." He poked Vaati in the chest gruffly.

Vaati's forehead twitched. "Tsk, you shouldn't have called me that." Vaati twirled the Wind Waker and sent a powerful blast of wind towards the pirate, knocking him backwards. He walked inside the cabin slowly and deliberately, making a line for the pirate. "First question," he said quietly, "where are we?"

The pirate remained speechless for several seconds until Vaati's cold glare made him quickly find his voice. "Er, this is Windfall Island," the man stopped as Vaati held up his hand.

"Let me put it this way: how far are we from Hyrule?"

The pirate stiffened, and became cautious at the mention of Hyrule. He stated carefully, "Hyrule doesn't exist anymore, yeah? That's in the old kiddie stories." He cowered backwards when the sorcerer lifted his hand threateningly. Then, he noticed something glinting in Vaati's fingers. The pirate gasped as he recognized the Wind Waker in the sorcerer's hand. The pirate fell back and pointed a shaking finger at the baton. "That… that… that… Kid! That's the –"

Vaati interrupted him with another punishing gale from the Wind Waker. "Show some respect, fool. Never call me that again." The mage looked down his nose at the still stuttering pirate. "Well, since you do not know where Hyrule is, I'll be taking this ship from you. Oh, and some of your crew. I'll need men to run this ship." He turned his heel and walked outside of the cabin to signal Link to come down. He glanced coldly over his shoulder to see a gathering group of pirates who had come to see what the commotion was about. "I'll also like a word with your captain."

"Ki – I mean, Sir! That's Link's wind changing baton! Where's Link? We need his help to find Miss Tetra!" The pirate on the floor interjected. He noticed Link walk out from behind Vaati, and he suddenly jumped to his feet. "Link! What happened to you? You disappeared into thin air with Miss Tetra! Is Miss Tetra with you? We're all worried for the captain, yeah?"

Vaati turned to Link who was shaking his head, and then addressed the pirate. "So you know Link? I'm afraid he doesn't remember a thing." He scowled, and continued forcefully, "Give us a ship, then we'll listen."

The pirate clenched his fist, and a vein throbbed along his forehead. Vaati thought the pirate was going to lunge at him. Therefore, he was taken by surprise when the pirate began to bawl instead.

"Please, please! Help us find Miss Tetra!"

Vaati sniffed in disgust, and he shifted his attention away from the crying, hysterical pirate. The mage held up the Wind Waker, warning the other pirates away. "Stay there. I need to talk privately with Link."

XXXXXXXXXX

Link leaned against the mast and eyed the gloating mage. "What did you do over there? You had a grown man crying," he said with disapproval. He glanced at the pirates huddled together in a small group inside the cabin, watching them with wide eyes of surprise.

"Only doing what I do best," replied Vaati. He smirked. "And they apparently don't have a captain anymore since this 'Tetra' person is gone. I believe we have a ship, boy."

Link sighed heavily. "Why do you always have to use intimidation to get anything?"

Vaati gave him a sidelong look. "Because it works, fool." Vaati abruptly turned serious. "I'm curious about one thing the pirate said, though. He mentioned you disappeared at the same time as Tetra. You probably disappeared because of the replacement process that occurs whenever we move to a different time period. I don't know why the same fate would befall Tetra… unless…" he glanced sharply to Link's hand with the Triforce. Link followed his gaze and understanding dawned on him.

"Unless… that means Tetra is Zelda, and these pirates know something – Oof!"

Link was suddenly interrupted by a short, buck-toothed pirate that had run up and given him a tight hug. He was thrown off balance and nearly ran into Vaati, but with sheer willpower and center body strength he managed to stop his forward momentum. The look on Vaati's face was fierce enough to stop a rampaging Moldorm in its tracks.

"Link! My swabbie! I thought you'd died!" The pirate looked him up and down, oblivious to the sorcerer. "Gonzo told me you don't remember anything, but that's all right. You were the best swabbie I've ever had! Um… the only swabbie I've ever had," he added aside, "but still the best! I'm Niko. Don't forget this time, okay? Miss Zelda wouldn't be too happy you'd forgotten everything, but I'm a nice pirate so I won't get mad if you slip up now and then." Niko walked around Link a few times before coming to a stop in front of Vaati. Upon finally noticing the wind mage, the little pirate put his hands on his side. "Who are you? Link, is this your swabbie?"

Link froze, Vaati's cheek twitched, and Niko's eyes were hopeful.

"Does that mean I have two swabbies now?"

Vaati gave Niko a nasty smile. "Hmph. I happen to be in a good mood right now so I'll spare you, shrimp. Next time, you'll address me as  _Captain_. You also mentioned the name Zelda. How do you come to know her?"

Link made a face. "Captain?"

Niko had a similar reaction. "Whaaaaaaat? Captain? But Miss Zelda was –"

" _Niko!_  You know Miss Tetra hates being called that!" The red-nosed pirate who had been crying, Gonzo, came running up to them. His eyes were still a bit puffy from his previous outburst. "And who are you to take Miss Tetra's title?" he added.

Vaati whirled around and snarled, causing Link and the two pirates to hurry a few paces away from him. "I claim possession of this ship. Anyone who opposes will answer me!" He stomped over to Gonzo who was watching Vaati's Wind Waker uneasily. "You! I want everyone on this ship to gather in the cabin. I need explanations! Especially about Zelda!"

Gonzo yelped and held up his hands in defence. "Whoa, whoa, calm down… Captain. I'll bring everyone up here now, yeah?" He ran away towards the cabin at a speed that was pretty fast for someone his size. Vaati fumed, and followed the retreating pirate slowly back to the cabin. Niko looked after the menacing figure in amazement.

"Wow, Link. I can't imagine what life must've been like with Mr. Temperamental."

"I don't even know how I'm still standing at all," Link agreed, shaking his head. He frowned a little when it occurred to him that Vaati's character had shifted when they had been flung to this waterlogged era. The sorcerer had been sour yet manageable before, when the only thing he had to defend himself was the Gale Boomerang. Link had been confident that he could handle Vaati if the wind mage had tried to do anything sneaky. Now that he had the Wind Waker, however, Vaati could conjure tornadoes. Granted they were a lot smaller than the ones he could summon at full power, but he'd come a long way since that time in Telma's bar when he was having trouble holding a bow. He was becoming more and more like the demon Link had fought at the Palace of Winds, and that worried him. "He was a bit better before I gave him the Wind Waker. Now he thinks he's unstoppable."

Niko's jaw dropped. "You  _gave_  it to him?"

Link brushed some loose strands of hair away from his face. "Actually, it was more like he took it from me." He waved a hand over to the small pirate. "Come on, before Vaati blows us up for being late." He took a few steps forward, and then stopped, making Niko run into him from behind. Link shushed the protesting pirate, and strained his ears. Niko did the same, and the buck-toothed pirate's eyebrows came together in the middle of his forehead.

"Hey swabbie, did I just hear a screech?" Niko asked. He saw Link wasn't next to him anymore and looked around. The pirate called after Link who had suddenly dashed off towards the edge of the ship. "Hey swabbie! Where are you going? _!_ "

"Vaati!" Link yelled. "Ah!" He grabbed onto the railings as a forceful gale rocked the ship. He ducked behind the wooden support as bits of debris exploded from one of the nearby buildings. Vaati was at his side in a second to see what was going on.

"What in the name…"

There was a horrendous scream that made everyone but Vaati wince and cover their ears. The sorcerer, however, stared up at the looming shadow above them in a daze. "I've heard that before," his voice faded with the rhythmic gust coming from the behemoth flying above them.

It was an enormous, predatory bird with a metallic helm. The bird was covered in a dark purple plume with a brilliant yellow and green tail that trailed behind it.

"Helmaroc King."

The monster gave an earsplitting scream again, apparently infuriated by something. Link cautiously looked up. "Hey, isn't that… is that the wizzrobe? _!_  How did he manage to get here?"

Sure enough, the renegade wizzrobe was held in a tight clutch by the Helmaroc King's talons. Thistle seemed like he was calmly trying to talk the bird into releasing him, but in vain. The great bird paid no attention to him.

Vaati's eyes narrowed. "That idiot…"

The Helmaroc King flapped its powerful wings a couple of times and sped away from the island towards the northwest. Thistle saw Vaati and Link down below, and pointed at them to get his captor to look. The Helmaroc King ignored him, and not noticing Vaati or Link on the pirate ship it disappeared into the distance.

There was silence for several seconds, and then all the pirates entered into a state of alarm. "It's the bird! The bird's back!"

Niko cowered behind Link. "How, what, why? Link, I thought you killed that thing." Niko yelped when he was yanked away by the collar by a firm fist. He stopped struggling when he realized it was Vaati who had grabbed him. The sorcerer had a very scary expression on his face, and the rest of the pirates froze in fear when he spoke.

"I want to know everything," Vaati hissed, his voice as foul as ever. "Hyrule, Zelda,  _the Helmaroc King_ : everything!"

XXXXXXXXXX

There were only six pirates in all: three tall ones and three short ones. Besides Gonzo and Niko were Senza, a muscular bearded pirate who managed the catapult, Nudge, a pirate who had helped Miss Tetra in decision making, Mako, a pirate who never let go of his book and had the habit of holding his cracked glasses with his right hand, and Zuko, the ship's watchman who rarely spoke more than three words in a row. They were all gathered around a long dining table. Under Vaati's grilling, they revealed a story on how the pirate crew had first met Link, and how he and Zelda had defeated Ganondorf. Vaati fell silent and appeared to brood upon hearing how the Helmaroc King, under the orders of Ganondorf, had been the catalyst to the chain of events that led Link to work with the pirates.

Vaati stood up abruptly and walked over to the edge of the room to stare outside one of the windows. Link followed him with his gaze, wondering what had gotten into him. Then, he remembered how he had fought a similar bird before.

"Future Ganon even took away  _my_ pet," Vaati grumbled under his breath.

Ah. So that's what it was. "It's that bird, isn't it? That freaking large bird at the Tower of Flames?"

Vaati didn't say anything.

Link sighed. That one had been a pain in the arse to beat. To think he would have to see it again didn't make him feel any better. There was an annoying prod to his side, and he turned to see the pirate with the glasses poking him.

"So, what's your story, Link?" Mako adjusted his cracked glasses. "How do you two know each other?" He pointed at Vaati who was still acting weird by the corner.

"Well, long story short we're both looking for Ganondorf and we think he's in Hyrule. That's why we were wondering if you knew where Hyrule was."

The pirates exchanged uneasy glances. Finally, Mako spoke up again. "Umm, Link, well how should I put this…" the pirate took a deep sigh, "you have amnesia so you don't remember, but you already defeated Ganondorf and Hyrule's at the bottom of the sea."

Vaati took this moment to stride back up to the table and slam his palm against the wood. Mako winced in surprise, and the sorcerer growled. "One. Ganondorf is here. Two. Then we'll just have to go to the bottom of the sea, isn't that right?"

"Then why don't you go jump into the ocean yourself without dragging us along too, huh?"

Everyone turned to look at Senza who didn't seem the least bit worried about a short wind mage who appeared only slightly older than Link. Gonzo and Niko, who had learned their lesson earlier, tried to shush him. "Stop it Senza, he's really scary when he's angry," Niko whispered in his ear. Gonzo kept throwing apologetic glances towards the mage who had an increasingly malevolent aura around him.

"Don't worry, Captain. I'm sure Senza and the rest of the boys will see sense soon." He was pushed back by Senza who had also stood up, upset.

"Vaati, was it? You really think we'll follow your orders?"

"Senza! Do you want to kill us? _!"_

"He's crazy! Find Hyrule? Find Ganondorf? We'll be wasting time when we could be looking for Miss Tetra!"

"No, we won't" Link cut in, making the two arguing pirates stop to listen and preventing Vaati from making any drastic moves. "Ganondorf is back," he began a little hesitantly, because he wasn't sure how much of that was true, "and Zelda is with him."

There were a few seconds of suffocating tension as the pirates processed what Link had just said, and then they gradually sat calmly back down in their seats. Vaati slowly put the Wind Waker he had taken out back to his belt.

"So, Ganny's come back?" Niko asked, still having trouble believing it. Link nodded affirmative.

"And that's why we need your help." The blond ignored the wind mage who sniffed at the word 'help.' If Vaati had problems asking for help, then so be it. Link knew when they needed it.

Finally, Senza leaned forward in his seat. "All right, since you're the one asking I'll listen. Link, I'm doing this for you. Not because of your friend," he added. The other pirates agreed, except for Gonzo and Niko who were still apprehensive about Vaati's reaction.

Link cautiously turned to the sorcerer. "Vaati?"

Vaati huffed indignantly, and then addressed the crew with his back still turned to them. "We'll look for the Helmaroc King and that renegade wizzrobe. They might give us some insight on the whereabouts of Ganondorf and the princess."

Link let out the breath he had been holding in. He was relieved things had come to pass with no big incident.

"Prepare the ship to sail. We leave at once." Vaati whisked around and was about to leave when he was stopped by Gonzo meekly raising his hand. Vaati glared at him. Gonzo gulped.

"Oh, um, Captain, can I say a thought that just came to mind?" He fiddled with his thumbs. "I'm just a lowly swabbie and my ideas will never be as good as yours, but how about we all go out to town tonight to get something to eat? A last meal before we go out and face the rough seas; get to know each other at the bar, yeah? There's nothing like a round of drinks that'll get people together tight like." Gonzo nervously watched Vaati's unreadable face.

Seconds ticked by while the six pirates waited for Vaati's answer. Finally, Vaati moved away to the door. "Do what you want. I could care less."

The pirates cheered.

"All right! Link, you're doing gate duty because you're my swabbie." Niko whooped as he joined the celebrating pirates.

"What? Why can't I go?"

"Because you're my swabbie!"

"Wait a minute, Niko. You have to stay here with Link," Gonzo said firmly as he pushed the little pirate towards Link. "You're underage to go to the bar."

Niko was shocked. "But… but I've always wanted to go."

"We can only take ya if you're old enough. You're not, yeah? Stay put with Link. He's underage too."

Niko pouted and went over to Link to discuss how unfair pirate hierarchy was.

Suddenly, Vaati halted in his tracks as he realized something. He would have to choose between staying on the ship doing guard duty with Niko and the insufferable Link, or going to the bar with the pirates. The choice was obvious. "Crew, I'm going to the bar."

The cheering stopped.

Vaati grinned maliciously. "Surely the Captain could enjoy a few drinks? And of course the crew will take care of expenses." The mage turned on his heel and laughed as he walked out the door. Link put a hand on Niko's shoulder consolingly.

"See? Gate duty isn't that bad."

Niko nodded wordlessly.


	33. Drink if You're a Pirate

"Ow! Master Helmaroc I object to this kind of treatme – ACK!" Thistle was forcefully made to be acquainted with the cold stone at the top of the fortress tower where the Helmaroc King had taken him. He was crushed underneath one of the talons, and it became harder to breathe as the giant bird slowly pressed its weight down on him.

"Who are you, and where is Lord Ganondorf?" the Helmaroc King demanded, "and why did I suddenly find myself inside that suffocating prison on Windfall Island? Were you, perhaps, trying to ensnare the most trusted ally of the Dark King?" The Helmaroc King shoved him downwards as it narrowed its eyes in suspicion.

Thistle grumbled, his cheek smushed against the ground, and then struggled a bit to free his hands. He finally managed to perform a warp spell to teleport away to a much comfortable location. He popped back into appearance a few yards away from the Helmaroc King where he could now see where he was, and he kneaded his neck. The bird had taken him to the top of a deserted fortress: lethal spikes surrounded the perimeter of the roof he stood on. Thistle sighed. It was always 'Lord Ganondorf' this and 'Lord Ganondorf' that. "I told you, I didn't mean to summon you inside the prison. I just got a little excited, and got a little ahead of myself, that's all." He grinned amiably, "I wasn't trying to foil Lord Ganondorf's plans at all. You can trust my word."

He blipped away when the Helmaroc King sent a bone-shattering slam with its wing. "Lies!" The Helmaroc King whirled around to find the renegade wizzrobe; Thistle had teleported to safety behind him. "Then where is Lord Ganondorf now, and why is our stronghold completely empty? _!_ " the bird shrieked.

"I'm hurt you think I'm a liar," Thistle frowned. He brightened up. "Isn't it obvious that Lord Ganondorf abandoned you, Master Helmaroc? He must have run off to Subrosia where the weather is better."

"Don't make a fool of me," the Helmaroc King hissed.

"Oh very well." Thistle threw his hands up into the air in defeat. "I honestly don't know where he is, so I summoned the next best King. I'm a Summoner Wizzrobe. The most powerful one to ever exist."

The Helmaroc King slowly folded its wings close to its body, and regarded the wizzrobe critically. Its voice came out in a dangerous calm. "You summoned me."

"That is correct," Thistle nodded proudly.

"Like how you wizzrobes summon keese and lesser monsters."

"Well, normal wizzrobes can summon monsters a little better than keese. Like bubbles," he added brightly.

"You place me on the same tier as keese and bubbles." The Helmaroc King's feathers were beginning to rise along its back angrily.

"They can summon Darknuts, too." The slightly mocking undertone didn't fail to escape the bird's ears.

"So I am, according to you, on the same tier as keese, bubbles, and Darknuts," the Helmaroc King clarified slowly.

Thistle waved his hands in front of him earnestly. "Most definitely not! I am saying I am on quite a different tier than normal wizzrobes."

There was a slight pause where the Helmaroc King appeared appeased for a split second. Then, the bird continued in the same flat, yet dangerous, tone. "Because I am a summon, I am assuming you expect me to follow your orders. Is that right?"

"Exactly!"

"You little, cheeky, insignificant insect of a presence!" Helmaroc roared. The bird raised its wings threateningly and closed in on the Summoner Wizzrobe standing just on the edge of the tower. "Did you really think a weak, meat-shield of a monster would be able to stand above an ore class? Did you really think you could command my respect?"

Thistle stood blankly in front of the enraged monster. He shrugged. "I've never had any issues with summons before. I was under the impression that summons were supposed to listen to me, because it implies I was able to handle the summoning in the first place."

"I only follow the likes of Ganondorf. Not mere wizzrobes like you!" The Helmaroc King was furious. "I admit I am impressed you have enough sorcery to summon someone like me, but remember this,  _wizzrobe_ ," the bird spat, "you and I are on completely different levels starting with our very names."

"Kehaha. That is true." Thistle laughed carelessly. Then, something seemed to have snapped with the bird's comments. Briefly, his eyes flashed coldly. "Everyone knows that once a lesser monster, always a lesser monster."

"Oh ho," Helmaroc leered. "I seem to have struck a nerve."

"Not at all," Thistle replied stubbornly.

"If you have a bone to pick with me, runt, then I dare you to try." The Helmaroc King spread its wings wide. "The mistake you made was to assume I follow anyone willingly. They must prove it to me. If Lord Ganondorf is no longer here, then as of now I am the King. I dare you to dethrone me."

Thistle made a reluctant face. "What a pain you are," he quipped bluntly. "So be it."

An ant before the king of the sky, Thistle was greatly overshadowed by the Helmaroc King's looming form. Regardless, he spread his arms confidently without any hint of uncertainty. There was a glimmer and a flash, and in an instant the Helmaroc King found itself surrounded by an entire army of the fortress's last inhabitants. Thistle crossed his arms, grinning, as he stood in the center of the mass of moblins, bokoblins, and miniblins all ready to fight. "Kehaha. Even if you are King, do you really stand a chance against an army?"

To the surprise of Thistle, it was the Helmaroc King's turn to laugh. The great bird crowed freely into the air, gasping for breath. "An army!" it screeched, causing some of the nearest moblins to back away from it. Helmaroc calmed down, and began again with sinister familiarity. "I don't know how you became to be so much more powerful than the rest of your bretheren, wizzrobe, but I will venture a guess to say you haven't been powerful for long."

Thistle was used to laughing at people, but he wasn't quite used to being laughed at. It threw him off. "Sure," was all he managed.

"I say this because your plans are all based on an imagined fantasy on how you think life should be. You think you can move to the top simply by gathering power" The Helmaroc King took to the air in an impressive display of its beautiful tail feathers. It commanded attention without even trying – a sheer contrast to the little wizzrobe. "You are pitifully unaware of how handicapped you are because of something called  _birth status_. Moblins! Would you listen to this fool of a wizzrobe when he is clearly outnumbered, and even below you in hierarchy?"

"Now that's an unfair assumption! Wizzrobes are on the same tier as moblin-kind," Thistle complained. He casually burst to flames a spear that had prodded him too forcefully to be considered friendly. He was beginning to realize his mistake to pick someone intelligent as his first summon. Helmaroc was a little too conniving to be of any good use. With a deadpan face, he froze a few of the bolder moblins who had shaken their heads "no" in response to Helmaroc's question.

"You see," Helmaroc continued mercilessly, "it is a disgrace to bow our heads and surrender ourselves to a nobody like you."

"Kehaha, well if that's how it is," Thistle laughed humorlessly in a soft voice, "then I'll just have to take you down without summons, isn't that right?"

"Ha! As though you can. Besides, I'm not the only one you have to worry about. I have to thank you for my loyal army you summoned for me."

Thistle summoned a barrier of fire to fend off the surrounding monsters now listening to the Helmaroc King's command. He managed a grin and a chuckle. "I still have a lot to learn. About magic, and about life."

XXXXXXXXXX

The rest of the pirates and Vaati had left Link and Niko on the ship while they went to look for the nearest bar. Though the pirates had been disappointed their forever angry captain was going to accompany them, they didn't appear to mind his presence so much once they were walking towards town. It seemed that being separated from Link took away some of Vaati's stress, and his natural charisma shone through his grouchy shell. Additionally, Niko explained to Link that Miss Tetra had highly disapproved of drinking because her crew had once come back to the ship so drunk that they couldn't stand up the next morning; Link assumed the pirates were tolerating their new captain because he was going to let them enjoy a night full of alcohol and hazy heads.

Link followed Niko around the ship as the little pirate showed him around the place. The sleeping quarters bothered Link the most, as he couldn't imagine himself sleeping in a room that was constantly swaying. The bunks were wooden planks crudely attached to the ship walls so the pirates could sleep on them. He could see that the pirates had made some attempt to make themselves comfortable by piling on several cushions and pillows on top of each other. Niko saw Link's face and laughed.

"What, you don't like it? Don't complain to the other guys. They'll probably leave you to sleep outside." Niko pointed to an empty bunk next to the one with the least amount of pillows. "You can take the one next to mine." He scurried over to some of the thickest beds and pulled out a bed sheet while looking guiltily from side to side. "Here, take this. I don't think Gonzo will notice he lost one. Just don't tell anyone, okay? I don't wanna get busted."

Link took the sheet. "Wow, thanks Niko."

Niko stuck out his chest. "I'm only taking care of my swabbie. That's my job as your superior. You're on the bottom rung now, and who knows what horrible jobs you'll suffer without me around." He took another glance at the sheet he had given Link as though expecting it to rat him out. "Link, don't tell anyone. I'm serious! I don't want to have to go through another laundry day."

"What's so bad about laundry day?" Link asked, as he attempted to make his bed.

"Gonzo's underwear." The buck-toothed pirate shuddered at the thought. He shook his head to get rid of the bad memories and quickly smiled childishly at Link. "So, my old swabbie, what do you say to taking the pirate's test again?"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Vaati held his drink and sat glumly while the rest of the pirates exploded in drunken laughter at nothing in particular. He didn't enjoy alcohol too much because he didn't want anyone to catch him drunk. The mage took a modest swing before going back to looking bored, yet alertly catching the conversations going around him. Bars were great places for catching local gossip, and after the encounter with the Helmaroc King and that renegade wizzrobe, he wanted to know about anything that had been going on around town. Sure enough, it wasn't long before he found two men speaking of the monster bird a few tables away. Ignoring the boisterous pirates around him, he let all noise besides the two men drop away to the background.

Within minutes he discovered that the two men weren't really talking, per se. One of them was awfully inebriated, and he swung one bottle wildly around – nearly knocking his listener down – while the other hand gesticulated with exaggerated movements to emphasize his story. The other was nodding politely while appearing extremely uncomfortable for becoming the unwitting friend (i.e. the first person the drunk had decided to talk to at the bar).

"I'm telling you I was there! That biiiig monster bird appeared out of nowhere from the prison! Bam! Just like that." The man appeared to be in his mid-twenties, with a dark blue captain's coat that stunk with the smell of a seafaring man: alcohol and salt. His brownish blond hair was scruffy and unkempt, and he had dark rings under his eyes, possibly from drinking too much. The only thing that suggested he cared a little about his appearance was his neatly shaped mustache that settled right above his lips in two small triangles. "Do you know what that has to mean? Do you?" the man cried loudly, oblivious to how his lone audience was trying to slide away towards the door. "There has to be a secret chamber beneath this island," he pointed dramatically to the ground "that could house a bird big enough. I bet you there's also treasure down there too, because everyone knows secret chambers have treasure. Am I right? _!_ "

Vaati snorted contemptuously as he looked at his drink. Wordlessly he slipped away from the pirates and approached the two men. The wind mage stood between them, and casually opened the door to let the unfortunate listener leave. The man who had suffered the barrage of the drunken captain left gratefully.

"Hey, wait! I haven't finished telling you my story!" the captain shook his fist. Then, he tilted his head downwards at the shorter wind mage. The captain appeared unimpressed. "Eh, what's a kid like you doing here?"

"Do I look like a kid, you oaf?" Vaati smiled, but it was a venomous, unfriendly smile.

"Yeah, sure I mean look how… um, well on second thought you seem like a good gentleman," the captain sobered up momentarily. He must have had too much to drink; there was no way a kid would be able to… glare at him with pure, evil malevolence like that.

"Good." Vaati motioned to sit at one of the vacant tables. "Your story sounded interesting, and your friend didn't seem too inclined to listen so I decided to play the substitute. Kindly tell me what happened on this island regarding that bird and the wizzrobe."

"Suuure! The name's Linebeck, and I'm a real man of the sea."

Vaati sighed impatiently when Linebeck waited for him expectantly. "I am Vaati. Now Linebeck, can you just tell me – "

"Funny name. You know, I just noticed how white you are. You don't even have sunburn! My nose is red and gone from the sun, see? You must not get out much. What's your occupation, kid? Are you any good at finding treasure by any chance?" Linebeck completely forgot about his previous offense as he returned to his friendly drunken demeanor. He took an interest in the egg-sized jewel embedded in Vaati's hat. "I mean, that's a really nice looking hat."

Vaati was just about the end of his patience. "I said – "

"Oh and about the bird? I don't know nothing. Just that weird hooded monster showed up and next thing you know it leaves with that bird," Linebeck interrupted.

" _My occupation is to hurt things I don't like_ ," Vaati growled, causing Linebeck to look momentarily hurt, then angry because the sorcerer was angry. Linebeck didn't approve other people being angry when he was drunk. It made him angry.

Before things could get out of hand, Gonzo lurched over to where the two of them were. "Hey Captain! You should enjoy yourself, yeah? You won't get another night like this once we're on the watery place." Gonzo's face was a warm red and he smiled happily, blissfully unaware of the tension between Vaati and Linebeck. The wind mage leaned back as the pirate's swinging arms caused some beer to splash out of his mug. "Come on, Captain! We gave you a slapping new ship! Celebrate!"

"Don't bother, Gonzo. Little purple man probably can't handle the drinks," Senza said in a slow drawl and burst into happy laughter. Mako laughed with him even though he wasn't sure what he should be happy about.

Linebeck joined in. " _You're_  a captain? Youuu? Hahaha!" He and Gonzo cracked up, introduced each other, and then continued laughing.

"Yeah can you believe it?"

"No! He's so short."

"But he's scary, yeah? Hahaha!"

"Hahaha!"

Vaati slammed his mug down, causing the pirates to stare at him in surprise. The six drunks watched him curiously with merry smiles as Vaati's lips twitched upwards into a dangerous one. "All right, fools. Get your rupees ready, I'm in for several rounds."

XXXXXXXXXX

Niko led Link to the bottom of the storage compartment of the ship where a series of lanterns hung from the ceiling between large wooden crates. Niko climbed down a ladder that led down to the floor with the boxes, moved across the room, and climbed up the ladder on the opposite side to stand on a platform across from Link.

"Since you're a little doozy in the head, I've made the test easy for you. That's not to say that you won't get a little challenge, little swabbie!" Niko called over, his voice full of authority. He pointed to the lanterns and then to the crates. "This should be straight forward. You're going to have to jump on that crate over there, and then catch the swinging lantern. Don't miss, or your legs will be hurting from the fall." Niko crossed his arms. "Let's see if you can still do this stuff, swabbie!"

Link stretched, warmed up a bit, and hopped onto the first of the crates. He carefully timed his next jump to catch a hold of the swaying chain of the lantern, and swung himself a few times to get the chain to move closer to the next lantern. Link repeated this until he landed in front of Niko with a satisfied grin. "That was easy."

Niko snorted, appearing somewhat disappointed. "It was supposed to be, underling." He brightened, "But you're incredible, Link! Even though you've got your memories wiped you can still do this in a flash!" The little pirate brought himself to full height, "Niko is proud of you, swabbie! Just a bit more time and you might even be my equal."

Link tilted his head. "Um… sure."

"Unfortunately I don't have any rewards to give you this time," Niko mumbled to himself. He shook his head, grumbling. "Miss Tetra found out I was giving you the ship's treasure, and I got in trouble. Even though she's not here, she's the captain so I'm going to respect her orders!"

Link chuckled. "Wow, Zelda was pretty strict as a pirate, huh?" He laughed, amused at the image of Hyrule's princess as the tough captain of a band of pirates, but at the same time he could see it perfectly. Zelda was a bit of a tomboy at heart. He finally noticed Niko was scrutinizing him. "What is it?" Link asked.

Niko shrugged. "I don't know. I can't help but think it's fishy you remembered Miss Tetra but nothing else."

Link froze. It didn't seem like it bothered Niko too much, but at the same time it was obvious that Niko found the whole story of Link's memory wipe a little suspicious. Link squirmed inwardly because of Niko's offhand comment. A part of him knew it shouldn't be a big deal, but another part of him was conflicted with lying to someone who was obviously one of his future self's good friends.

"Um, swabbie? Is something wrong?" Niko frowned at the other boy looking like he was going to bite his lower lip off.

Link took a deep breath, momentarily debated the potential repercussions it would have on the timeline if he talked about what had happened to Niko, then decided time was screwed up enough already, and hung his head in defeat. "Niko, there's something I want to tell you…"

XXXXXXXXXX

The bartender pursed her lips tightly as her customer asked for another drink. His six other friends were watching with interest as they guzzled down their own drinks and chattered in drunken bliss. The big burly one with the green shirt and the scruffy captain was engaging in a friendly drinking competition off to the side. The bartender sighed, and brushed back her heair in a tight bun as she counted over a dozen empty mugs scattered in front of the pirates. Most of them were piled in front of the customer in purple.

"Hurry up woman, I don't have all night," he said as he pushed back his hat that had fallen over his eyes.

She had given up trying to reason with the purple clad customer after he had gone into a furious rage when she hinted that perhaps he had had enough to drink. It had taken his two tall, muscular friends to hold him down and quiet him.

"What do you think I am? Are you saying I'm weak? _!_ " He had almost stood on top of the counter.

The bartender handed him another mug without saying a word. She only cared if they paid, and besides, a nice hangover tomorrow will give them more advice than what she could ever hope to get through their thick heads.

Vaati nodded in approval and his unstable hands went for the mug. He missed a few times before he succeeded.

Senza swirled his finger around as he tried to point at the mage. "Wow, purple, purple, captain. I'm sorry about saying you couldn't, you know, handle drinks." The pirate slurred. "I was just chatting with glasses here about, you know, how you can't go wrong with a good drinker." He slapped his palm down in a friendly manner on Mako who had his face knocked into his beer.

Mako looked up angrily and pushed Senza back, who knocked down Zuko who had been contemplating his drink. "My glasses! Look what you've done to them, you mushy-brained moblin!"

Mako made to attack Senza but was punched by an annoyed Zuko. Gonzo and nudge went over to the fighting trio in an attempt to calm them down. "Hey there, let's be nice," Gonzo stuttered as he tried to find words. Someone sent a hefty kick at Gonzo who joined the fray. Nudge joined for the sake of it. Linebeck cheered from the side.

There was a full-fledged fight going on by the bar counter, and the other people who had come to the bar quickly left the building as knives began to fly. One drunk stayed by the door for a while to watch the commotion with interest, but was dragged away by his friend when the fight came too close. Vaati clenched his fist and threw his glass across the room after emptying its contents. "Shut the hell up!" he screamed, and took out his Wind Waker.

Meanwhile, the bartender crouched behind the bar counter and took out a pocketknife. She blocked a piece of furniture from falling on her head with a tray, and waited for the fight to wear itself out. It was just another rough night at the bar; she was used to these things.

XXXXXXXXX

The Helmaroc King puffed out its chest and made itself comfortable on its roost on the Forsaken Fortress. The king didn't know if he'd really won the encounter with the wizzrobe. The fortress was now under his reign, with the bokoblins at their watchtower stations and the moblins making rounds to check for intruders. He should have been pleased with the outcome of having the fortress operational again, but for some reason he couldn't shake off the feeling of being upset. He felt like he had won and lost all at the same time.

 _That stupid wizzrobe_.

That wizzrobe had made as though to fight him when he had summoned that barrier of fire, and Helmaroc had been ready to pierce him with talons in one swoop. Instead, the Summoner Wizzrobe had giggled and then vanished without a trace. The nerve.

"Of course I'd  _like_  to fight you without summons," the wizzrobe had said, "but I'm not at all interested in fighting you. I would rather fight someone important, like the hero or Lord Vaati for example. So instead I will go and find someone dumber to summon who will listen to me. It's a shame you weren't a complete birdbrain like your cucco relatives, Master Helmaroc. I thought we would be able to work together," he added, offensively implying what he'd thought about the Helmaroc King. And with those last words, without even giving the Helmaroc King a chance to say something back, the wizzrobe had warped somewhere else.

The Helmaroc King shrieked in frustration, remembering the brief encounter. "If I meet that robe again I'll - !" the last few words became garbled in an infuriated screech.

However, one name the Summoner Wizzrobe had mentioned caught the bird's attention. It was a name he hadn't heard for a long, long time.

_Vaati. I thought you had died._

Ruffling his feathers, the Helmaroc King fluffed himself up to protect himself from the cooler night wind, and his face took on a somber expression. He had mixed emotions regarding that name. Once upon a time he had been faithfully loyal to the wind mage because he had respected him. However, now he considered Ganondorf to be his master because the King of Darkness had proved to be unimaginatively powerful. That was all that mattered to a monster, really. If you were powerful enough to crush anybody, then you had followers. Anything less and you were the one getting crushed mercilessly.

Vaati had been defeated for hundreds of years now, and therefore he no longer had the influence he once had. The Helmaroc King had been disappointed when he'd heard of the sorcerer's defeat, and had taken the title of 'master of the sky' for himself. They'd always squabbled over that title. It was all in good nature, of course, since there was a mutual understanding that Vaati could subdue him at any point at will, but at the same time those small wars between the two of them were reminders to the wind mage that if he ever lost his power, he would be overthrown.

The respect he'd had for Vaati had been great. Over the years of working under him he had considered the sorcerer to be his master, his rival, and perhaps even his friend.

And now, after hundreds of years of not hearing from Vaati, the Helmaroc King wasn't sure what the sorcerer was to him anymore.

The great bird rested its head between its wings.  _I'll deal with it when the time comes._

XXXXXXXXX

The pirates were laughing again as though their previous fight had never occurred, and the bartender had let them stay after Nudge paid her several hundred rupees to compensate for the damage and the drinks. Of course, this led to Linebeck becoming excessively friendly with the pirate crew. Gonzo and Vaati were talking amiably with flushed faces; they were currently on the subject of hobbies, with Linebeck joining in the conversation from time to time.

"You want to know about my hobbies? I'll tell you about my hobbies!" Vaati declared loudly as he threw his mug into the air. "You won't believe what my hobbies are," Vaati suddenly lowered his voice conspiratorially, and four pirates and Linebeck leaned forward with interest. Zuko had fallen asleep on the counter.

"Wh, wh, what do you doo?" Gonzo asked unsteadily, his words slurring together.

Vaati grinned. "I plot to take over Hyrule."

"That's a great hobby!" Linebeck interjected suddenly, causing the rest of the men to raise their heads slowly. "Power, wealth, fame! Who needs anything if you have those three?"

"Meh, I only want one of the three. Power!" Vaati's smile had twisted crookedly, and he was talking mostly to Gonzo's empty mug next to him.

"Treasure. It's all about the treasure! I know how to find it but… there's no way I can…" Linebeck trailed off gloomily, and then regained his happy composure. "Once I have enough treasure to have the power to take down those sea monsters, I'll have the treasure I need to have enough treasure to have the power to take down those… sea monsters…" he trailed off again, tongue-tied in his drunken circular logic.

"What monsters?" Gonzo asked, somewhat frightfully. Vaati, meanwhile, continued to stubbornly mutter about power versus wealth.

Linebeck shrugged, becoming morose. "The legendary big octos. They hoard hundreds of rupees from preying on ships. No one is ever crazy enough to fight one, but if they managed to defeat it they would be the happiest, richest men on the ocean."

"Pfft. Your goals are unambitious," Vaati scoffed, finally looking up from the mug he'd been muttering to. "Power is everything! When I find Hyrule I'll take over it with an iron fist and everyone will bow down to my superiority!" He fell into a fit of maniacal laughter.

Mako bravely interrupted him. "Hyrule is underwater though. Link told us."

Vaati fell silent. He refused to be perturbed. "Lies," he hissed, swiping a half-filled glass that wasn't his.

Mako pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Are you, are you calling Link a liar?"

The mage took another reckless swig and slammed the empty glass against the counter. "I hate Link. Link always ruins my plans to take over Hyrule. He's probably a liar too."

Gonzo jumped up and fell back down on his seat when his legs couldn't support him. "Link! He ruins m, m, my plans too! If he didn't, didn't, didn't show his face I would've married Miss Tetra, yeah?"

Vaati growled. "Link; his life must be ended."

Gonzo began to cry. "We're on the same… what do you call it… boat, Captain! We both hold a grudge on Link. But he's a nice boy, yeah? I can't do anything, yeah? He's my friend!"

Vaati slapped his hands against the wooden counter top. "That's it! That's the trouble! He's my frie… I mean…" the mage restarted as he noticed something horribly wrong with the sentence. "He's too nice!" he rephrased quickly. Vaati was barely sober enough to glare at the other pirates. "What are you looking at? Get back to your drinks!"

The pirates complied happily. Vaati quickly rejoined the drunks after another round of beer.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Link and Niko made themselves comfortable as they sat atop a barrel. Link found words spilling out of his mouth as he told Niko everything that had occurred without any omissions. He was somewhat worried at first, but a gradual feeling of relief washed over him the more he revealed his story. He was tired of keeping the situation a secret.

Niko turned out to be a good listener, only interrupting the story with gasps and laughs all at the right moments. Link recounted how he had fought with Vaati, only to find the real villain who had sent Hyrule into darkness had been Ganondorf. He talked about the complications with Opal, and how she had released Vaati from his prison, only to be possessed by Ganondorf who had managed to break the seal on the Four Sword. He mentioned the time travel with Vaati and the bizarre reactions of the people in a different Hyrule. Link talked about the problem of getting Vaati weapons, at which point Niko chuckled, and about the various powerful monsters they had to fight. He described the repeated ordeals with the dragon Argorok, and of the renegade wizzrobe's insane plot for acknowledgement. He even explained how he had saved Vaati from death when he had every reason not to help him. By the time Link got to the part where they had time traveled again to a flooded Hyrule, Niko looked like he had trouble breathing.

"So, you're from the past?" Niko gasped in wonder after Link had finished his story.

Link nodded. "That's about it. I won't be offended if you don't believe me."

"No, no, swabbie! I'll believe you! That's the most amazing thing I've ever heard." Niko rocked back and forth in excited giddiness as he tried to imagine the past, "So Hyrule used to have more land than Windfall Island?" he breathed.

"Probably. I've never seen the ocean before until I arrived here."

The pirate scrunched his forehead. "That must've blown. I can't imagine life without this!" He waved his hand in the general direction of the ocean.

Link fell silent.

"Oh. I guess you don't like it here much?" Niko asked, noticing Link's uncomfortable silence.

Link shook his head. "It's not that. It's just… I want to go back home. I want to see that everyone I've known all my life is still okay." Link sighed, "I want to have a normal life for once, where I don't have to go run around and fight."

Niko didn't know what to say, so they sat in silence for a while, listening to the creaks and groans of the ship. Finally, Link looked up. "I guess I was being selfish." He turned to Niko. "Thanks for listening, Niko. I needed that, and Vaati's not a very good listener."

Niko smiled, glad that Link was talking again. "No problem, swabbie! I'll always listen. Don't worry, after all this is done the mighty ones up above will just  _have_  to grant you a break."

Link smiled back at the pirate's attempt to lighten the mood. Niko perked up as loud laughter sounded from outside the door.

"Ah, they're back. Let's see if they remember the password." He rubbed his hands together and hopped to the door grinning mischievously.


	34. The Issues with Drinking

"Hey Vaati, when are we leaving? We can't waste too much time," Link asked the mage the next morning. Vaati had his head over the ship's railings miserably, in no mood to talk. The rest of the pirates who had gone to the bar last night also accompanied him, hanging over the railings like wet laundry put out to dry. Link propped his arms against the bars and looked at the mage who was a bit green in the face. He tried a different line of conversation. "Captain? What are your orders for the crew?"

Vaati looked up, and then held his head as the sudden movement reignited a headache. He forced himself to look at the horizon, but it didn't make him feel any better. "What do you call those white things that fly in the sky?" he finally mumbled.

Link was baffled. "You mean seagulls?"

Vaati pointed a declaratory finger skyward. "That's right, Link. Go tell those gullseas that they should go fetch a sail."

"You're still drunk," Link sighed when Vaati ran his tongue over his words.

"I'm perfectly sober." The sorcerer's eyes were a bit bloodshot.

Link held up three fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Don't take me for an idiot, Link. Any fool would know you have ten fingers," Vaati snapped.

Link rested his head against his hand. "All right. How many glasses did you have last night?"

"Lost count after eleven," Vaati muttered.

"Do you actually remember anything past eleven?" When all he got in response was a very slow curl of an eyebrow into a high arch, Link sighed again. "Figures." He glanced at the line of pirates who were also suffering from a hangover. Oh well, it looked like they weren't going to be leaving for a while. Shaking his head, he went back to the cabin to find Niko as Vaati recommenced hanging over the side of the ship.

He found Niko chasing after a rat in the storage room. The rat scrambled between the crates and ran through a crack where Niko couldn't reach it. The little pirate cursed, and then noticed Link waiting patiently for him to notice him. "Ahoy there, swabbie! Are we leaving yet?"

Link sat down on top of a crate. "Probably not. Everyone's not feeling well. I really wanted to get going today." He tapped the side of the crate irritably. "What was Vaati thinking? I thought he didn't want to waste time."

At this, Niko perked up. "So the evil Captain's out sick?" he mused.

"Yeah. He's out pretty bad."

"Hmmm," Niko appeared lost in thought. "That means no one's in charge, right?"

Link scratched his head. "I suppose you can say that."

"No one, right? Not even Zuko?"

"I think Zuko was in the crow's nest…" Link trailed off when he remembered another laundry rag pirate hanging off near the top of the masts. Come to think of it, he wasn't sure how Zuko had even managed to get up there safely. "Uhhh yeah, he was out too."

Niko smiled and nodded his head, satisfied. "Good, good. You said you wanted to get going today, swabbie?"

Link jumped up, excited as he understood what Niko was thinking. "Yeah! I'll bring the sails down." He was stopped abruptly by a firm hand on his shoulder.

Niko cleared his throat, giving him a look of warning. "Eh eh EHEM. Today, swabbie, you'll call me Captain Niko! Now go and ready the sails!"

XXXXXXXXXX

After a bit of tugging on the ropes and some climbing, Link was able to lower the masts. Niko seemed ecstatic that he was at the highest rank for once, even though all of his crew was in a world of woe. The buck-toothed pirate brought over a box to stand on so he could see above the steering wheel. "All right, swabbie! Where are we going?"

"I have no idea," Link replied honestly, shrugging his shoulders.

Niko wasn't too pleased with the answer. "I was mistaken to ask you and your lowly swabbie brain."

Link rolled his eyes, wondering whether a little bit of power caused people to become like Vaati. "Where did you find the Helmaroc King the last time?"

"Ah, in the Forsaken Fortress, of course. Captain Niko saw it with his own eyes once, swabbie!" Niko spread his arms wide to emphasize the impressive size of the fortress. "It was a crazy place: steel walls and cannons surrounding the entire thing! And mosters were lurking everywhere! No one but Captain Niko and his crew ever saw it and returned alive."

"Okay. We're going there," Link pointed out.

Niko whirled around, losing his composure and nearly tripping off of his box. "What? _!"_  A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead as his face fell. "Wait but um… maybe the bird isn't there this time."

"It's the only place we can think of right now. Let's go."

Niko gripped the steering wheel tightly, conflicted in his decision to go to the terrifying fortress. His first voyage as a captain wasn't exactly the fun adventure he had always imagined it would be. A few minutes later, he smiled as he remembered something. "Actually, the place wasn't that bad. There were survivors other than us, swabbie, don't worry. And I heard the monsters were pretty stupid."

Link frowned. "You just contradicted your previous story."

"Swabbie! Call me Captain, and I was just trying to make the story exciting. Sheesh." Niko held his head high, causing Link to sigh and shake his head. The new captain pointed to the horizon. "Anchors aweigh!"

The ship didn't budge, and continued to sit by the beach like a stranded whale. Niko looked around for someone to pull up the anchor. Seeing everyone else was out, he turned to Link again. "Didn't you hear me? I said anchors aweigh!"

"Yes Vaati," Link mumbled grudgingly as he went over to pull up the anchor. Even with the anchor up, however, the ship was unresponsive save for a slight lurch.

"What's the matter swabbie? We're not moving anywhere!" Niko called over with an impatient voice. A light breeze blew in his face.

Link licked his thumb and raised it above his head. Then, he looked up at the sails that were billowing inland in the opposite direction they were aiming to go. "Uh… Niko? I think we're going to have to wait for the wind to change," he began hesitantly.

Niko watched the sail bend inwards towards Windfall Island, and then shot an uncertain glance at the groaning sorcerer. Link followed his gaze, and he could feel another sigh building up in his chest.

"Or we can wake him up. Watch out Niko, he won't be happy."

XXXXXXXXXX

Link cautiously approached Vaati who had barely moved from the last time he had left him. "Vaati? Are you sober yet?"

There was a muffled, unhappy voice from over the side of the ship. "I wasn't drunk to begin with… fool."

"Very true," Link agreed, stifling a laugh, "how are you feeling?"

Vaati heaved himself up and glared at Link. "Oh, I'm feeling just peachy right now, can't you tell?" he shot sarcastically.

Eyes bloodshot and dark circles under his eyes, the sorcerer appeared more frightening (albeit disheveled) than usual. Link picked his next words carefully so he would get as much cooperation as possible. "Captain? Niko and I are taking care of your ship under your orders, but the wind is blowing in the wrong direction. Can you use the Wind Waker to change it?"

"Can I? Can I? Of course I can," Vaati grunted under his breath irritably. He flipped the baton a couple of times, causing the wind to gently persuade the ship to start moving out to sea. "Now just go leave me alone." The sorcerer flopped back to his original position of 'soggy towel Vaati.'

"To the Forsaken Fortress! Swabbies, get me a map!" Niko's squeaky high voice rang from behind the wheel. Vaati hissed.

"Link, shut that fool up before I go there myself and make sure he never speaks again."

Link hurried over to Niko who was barking orders to the rest of the crew, enjoying every minute of being the captain. "Niko! Don't push it, everyone's going to be upset with you later," he poked a thumb towards Vaati who was slowly tottering to his feet.

"Don't worry, my swabbie! Captain Niko knows what he's doing," the pirate laughed, drunk on his new power. Gonzo walked unsteadily towards Niko, holding his head.

"Hey Niko, can you quiet down for a sec? You go play captain with Link in the cabins, yeah?"

"Get me a map, swabbie!"

Gonzo gave a sharp whack on the back of Niko's head. "Niko, you're not the captain. You're the skivvy. But I'll get you a chart if you'll just stay quiet, yeah?"

Niko rubbed his head and muttered a reluctant, "okay Gonzo." Once Gonzo was gone and out of earshot, he turned to Link. "Link! I promote you to be my first mate! The other subordinates don't know respect."

Link was about to shrug a halfhearted "sure" when he saw a purple hat approaching from behind the ship's newest captain. He made urgent shushing motions at Niko, but it was too late. The little pirate froze when he heard raspy, angry breathing behind him.

Vaati yanked the frightened boy towards him. "So, having fun? Yes? Let me tell you that I'm  _not_  having fun right now, and your insufferable squeaking is only making it worse."

"S-sorry sir," Niko shook. Link's story about how the mage had once been one of the most powerful villains Hyrule had ever seen didn't help console him.

"Hmph." Vaati didn't loosen the grip on the pirate's collar as he took a moment to put his fingers against the bridge of his nose to stop the riniging in his head. The mage stuck out an impatient hand towards Gonzo who had returned wearily with an ocean chart. "Map."

Gonzo looked from the stricken Niko to the mage who had the pirate in an iron grip. "Niko, you're always getting yourself in trouble," Gonzo said with a hint of pity. He passed the map to Vaati.

Link couldn't help butting in as he watched Vaati observing the map. "You're not planning to steer this thing, are you? You're still tipsy."

"I wasn't drunk," Vaati responded flatly and automatically. Still, he seemed to consider Link's comment. His gaze moved to Gonzo who had hurried away to the side of the ship and was retching, and then scanned the other pirates who were all in a similar state. He finally let Niko go, exasperated. "All right you. You're steering today," he pointed at the buck-toothed pirate who had crumpled to the floor unceremoniously.

Niko snapped to attention, "Yes sir, Captain! I'll take us safely to the Forsaken Fortress!" He was still shaken in Vaati's presence, but his eyes gleamed in excitement. He was going to steer! Something he'd always wanted to do.

Vaati flung the map towards the pirate and made his way back towards the side of the ship like the rest of the crew. He reminded himself that he was never, ever going to drink again.

XXXXXXXXXX

Linebeck teetered over to the wreckage of the jail on the outskirts of town after the pirate ship had departed, still holding an empty beer bottle from last night. It had been such a great night – he'd never had better drinking buddies. They didn't seem to be pacing themselves too well, however, and especially that purple captain. Briefly he wondered if they were feeling all right.

Probably not.

"Not my problem!" he declared to the air, and he leaned against what was left of the jail door. He felt slightly guilty since he'd ended up liking the boisterous crew, but at the same time he wasn't about to share what he was trying to find. Linebeck grinned, and rubbed his hands together excitedly. He was on a mission to find the secret passageway that was bound to be somewhere within the debris of the jail cell. He was sure it existed – where else could that freakish monster bird have hidden itself all this time?

"Treasure, treasure, here comes Captain Linebeck," the money-loving captain grinned, humming.

"Good afternoon, Captain Linebeck."

The voice threw Linebeck for a loop, especially since he'd heard it from somewhere behind the dilapidated door. The all-too-familiar feeling of fear crept up on him, but he wasn't really sure why. "Treasure's not supposed to talk!" he called to the voice nervously like a rattled mouse.

"No, it's not. Unless it's enchanted," the voice responded reasonably. "Though I hardly consider a talking treasure to be treasure at all. Imagine how annoying that would be."

"It might sell at the auction."

The voice cackled, sending goose bumps rising along Linebeck's skin. "Indeed! The richer you are, the more you spend on the most useless things."

"So you're not enchanted treasure?"

"Enchanting I may be, but enchanted treasure I am not."

During the exchange, Linebeck had been nervously inching towards the edge of the door to peek around the building's remains to see the other side. His instincts told him he wasn't going to like the voice's owner, but at the same time he wasn't about to let another person claim his treasure. No one encroached on his treasure!

There was a slight pause as the captain and the owner of the voice stared at each other awkwardly. Then, Linebeck eased back to his side of the wall, pretending he hadn't seen anything. Just to double-check, he peeked over to the other side again.

"Dear goddesses, I should probably stop drinking," he told the empty bottle in his hand.

Thistle, who was sitting by himself in the middle of the wreckage, calmly looked up at the captain who was having a hard time believing the renegade wizzrobe had returned. "And I should probably start drinking. I hear that's what depressed people do sometimes, and I believe I ought to be depressed." He paused, and then broke into laughter, "Kehahahaha!"

Linebeck interrupted him severely. "You don't exist!" he cried. "I saw you fly away with that big bird just yesterday, and there's no way you can be back here!"

"Well I certainly didn't think I'd be back here so soon," Thistle agreed.

"You were supposed to fly away and never come back!"

"I'm also not very good at doing things I'm supposed to do." The renegade wizzrobe drew circles on the ground next to him, actually managing to appear sincerely flustered. "I got kicked out by the Helmaroc King, so I came back to the only other place I recognized."

"You mean jail?" Linebeck showed a glimmer of sympathy though he still kept his caution. This monster didn't seem interested in harming him at the moment. "It sure sucks to be you if home is a jail cell. By the way, you haven't kept it in good shape," he added, noting the debris.

"That's why I think I ought to be depressed," Thistle snickered "but I'm not." The wizzrobe stood up and stretched. "And I'm not because today is a good day."

Linebeck took a few steps back, his instincts telling him he should run and get the hell out of there. Before he could, however, the wizzrobe had disappeared in a warp, and something linked arms with him, dragging him towards the harbor.

It was Thistle.

"Where are you taking me? _!_ " Linebeck cried. The captain wondered if the wizzrobe's good day had anything to do with running into him.

"Oh posh, don't be so alarmed. You must have a ship, Captain Linebeck. How about we set sail?"

"How about not?"

Thistle looked down with a troubled expression. "But I'm afraid I might accidentally set you on fire if we don't…"

Linebeck yelped. "All right! I get it! I'll take you out to sea." Then, he looked back towards the ruins with a look of longing. "Um, but can I see if I can find the secret chamber first?"

"Eh?" Thistle turned back to the ruins, his head tilting in puzzlement. "Well I did find a secret passageway when I was there."

Linebeck, momentarily forgetting his fear of the wizzrobe, shook him by the shoulders. "Where's the treasure then? _!_ "

Thistle regarded him blankly, which wasn't hard to do since most of his face was now a hard beak. He blinked. "There was none."

Linebeck was about to object, but he was smoothly interrupted by the wizzrobe who tugged him a little forcefully towards the harbor.

"But consider this," Thistle started, "if you pretend you're my hostage, then you can go anywhere without being worried about monsters attacking you." Thistle grinned, "you can look for other treasure without any worry of being assaulted."

Linebeck's eyebrows met in the middle of his forehead in furrowed puzzlement. Finally, he clarified slowly, "So… I pretend to be your hostage?"

"Indeed," Thistle grinned deviously.

"I don't know if I like that."

"Is playing pretend too childish for you?"

"No, it's not th – "

"Because in that case you can be my actual hostage."

"Um, no that's fine."

"Then it's settled! Now," for the first time since Linebeck had been speaking with him, Thistle's eyes narrowed and took on a pretty frightful glare. It was kind of similar to that Vaati's no-nonsense glare that pierced your hapless soul to the spot, unable to escape. "Take me to your ship, captain. I have people I need to find."


	35. Fortress Infiltrators

It was the second day of sailing since they had left port, and Senza predicted that they were probably going to arrive at the Forsaken Fortress by nightfall because the wind was blowing in their favor. Niko had been kicked back to scrubbing the decks after he had nearly crashed the ship into a coral reef. Besides that incident, the trip was a sluggish one with barely any change in scenery. The initial awe-inspiring presence of the vast ocean had dwindled and diminished, and now Link was missing the greens and browns of solid land.

Impatient to do something, Link walked around the ship to find something interesting. Niko was busy scrubbing, and none of the pirates were willing to talk, so Link decided to go chat with Vaati who was sitting at the bow looking equally bored. "Hey, ready to go charge the fortress tonight?"

Vaati made no indication he had heard Link at all, and he was staring intently out towards the horizon. He didn't say anything.

Link would've shrugged off Vaati's silence as a normal reaction from the sorcerer, until he saw that Vaati's face was flickering between nausea and mild discomfort, as though he were trying to appear normal for the sake of preserving his pride. This effort to conceal his nauseous expression, however, made it much more noticeable. "Whoa, what happened to you? You look really ill… do you  _still_  have a hangover?"

The mage glared, and went back to looking at the horizon. "It's the damned swaying."

Link tried his best not to burst out laughing rudely. "You're seasick?" He couldn't hold down a snicker.

"What is your problem? _!_  Why can't you just leave me alone? You're more sadistic than I am, but they still call you a hero. I don't get it," the wind mage muttered miserably, but he still kept his eyes firmly on the horizon.

"Why am I sadistic?" the boy asked, amused.

His question resulted in an explosive reaction from Vaati who was at the end of his patience. "Your very existence annoys the hell out of me! I thought I could keep away from you as much as I was physically able to, but you choose to drive me crazy by following me!" Vaati finally whirled around to face Link. "And I tell you I want to beat you to a bloody pulp but that doesn't keep you away. If anything, you bother me even more like some twisted demon who's out to get me."

Link laughed. "Someone's paranoid." He reached into his bag. "Do you want some water? It might help with the seasickness. I have some left over from the previous era we were in. Ordon springs."

"You're doing it again! Stop it!"

Link stopped, confused. "Doing what?"

Vaati held his head in his hands as though there was too much effort required to keep it up. He was weak ever since the horrible hangover, and now coupled with seasickness and Link's existence, he wished he could just dig himself a hole and lie there quietly. "By the goddesses, fool, I don't understand why my henchmen couldn't kill you before. You're too  _nice_."

"Er, should I be saying thank you?"

" _No!_ " Vaati nearly forgot about his seasickness: the conversation with Link was hurting his head more.

Link grinned amicably, "You don't have to make up for your loss of magic by being a furious terror all the time."

"Do you think this is  _funny?"_  Vaati shot a scorching glare.

"A little," Link admitted, still smiling. "But don't worry, I'll be serious when we fight at the end."

"You're mocking me."

"No, I'm serious."

"You are, you stupid boy."

"Nuh uh."

" _That's it_. I'm going to make you help Niko do the laundry."

Link ran off, laughing. Niko, who had heard his name and the word 'laundry' in the same sentence, caught up to Link frightfully. The boy in green slowed as the pirate hurried over with worry.

"Swabbie! What did you do to get the Captain so angry?" Niko asked in a hushed undertone, glancing towards Vaati from time to time.

"The usual. It passes the time," Link gasped as he caught his breath.

Niko looked up at him in awe. "Swabbie, you're either really brave or really, really stupid."

"Haha, it's probably both." Link was still smiling like a kid who had gotten away by an inch of his collar for a prank he'd pulled.

The pirate peeked over at the mage who had resumed looking at the horizon in an attempt to help his seasickness and Link-sickness. "Is it true that the Captain used to be an enormous black eye with wings?"

"Yeah."

Niko scratched his head as he watched Vaati, and then shook his head in bewilderment. "I don't know why you travel with a monster like that, swabbie."

Link's breathing slowed, and his eyes softened and became thoughtful. "Sometimes… sometimes I think we might have misunderstood some monsters."

"Like  _that?_ " Niko scrunched his nose in disbelief as he pointed an accusatory finger at the Captain. He was still bitter about Vaati making him scrub the entire ship by himself as punishment for almost sinking it.

Link let out a small, uncertain chuckle. "Yeah. Like that." Niko shrugged, and then went back to scrubbing when he was convinced that the laundry danger had passed. The Hero, meanwhile, walked over to the side of the ship to watch a flock of seagulls following the ship above them. He didn't think he could explain to Niko why his attitude about monsters – and Vaati – had changed ever since this whole mess had started. One needed to experience everything themselves to know why.

Link had seen first hand some of the politics behind monster hierarchy, and little by little it had become apparent that monsters like Argorok weren't mindless brutes who were bloodthirsty simply because they liked to kill. Even the wizzrobes had been sophisticated, though their logic was difficult to understand. And then there was Vaati; the powerful sorcerer where some of the rumors about him were so horrible it made the ears bleed of anyone who heard them.

That, of course, was just another horrible rumor of rumors, but apparently Vaati had done some seriously evil things.

To say Link had a difficult time accepting these horrible rumors was the understatement of whatever era they were in. When their dysfunctional alliance had started, he had expected for it to fall apart by the second day together. Instead, they had made it through some impossible situations through a combination of teamwork and trust in each other's abilities. If Vaati had really been evil, would they have been able to come as far as they had? What if Vaati had his own reasons for acting the way he did like the monsters.

But then... would reasons really justify evil? But what if it was all a matter of perspective...

Link was, he knew this already, trying to fool himself. He knew he was coming up with these excuses to reason away the confrontation at the end. He was pretending to be friendly with the wind mage because he wanted to turn a blind eye to the obvious outcome. Of course the fight to the death between them was bound to happen – Vaati had said so himself, earlier, when they were at the City in the Sky. Vaati was being rational – Link, on the other hand, was being idealistic, naïve, and above all frightened. He didn't know if he could bring himself to kill the sorcerer in cold blood after working together as a team for so long. He couldn't help it if he considered him to be an ally now, and maybe even a friend. Albeit a grouchy friend, but one he could rely on to get him out of trouble.

He sometimes wished he could be as rational and levelheaded like the sorcerer. After all, he was pretty sure when the time came, Vaati would be able to put his life out without the bat of an eyelid.

Well, probably.

And that's why he didn't want to think about the inevitable end. And that's why he pretended to be amiable with the person who wanted him dead.

XXXXXXXXX

Just as Senza had predicted, they arrived at the Forsaken Fortress after dark. Link peered through the dark fog that had settled around the fortress, trying to get a better view of what they were heading into. Taking out the telescope he had found in his inventory, he looked around the monster-infested fortress. From what he could gather, there appeared to be a sizeable army inside – it was almost as though someone had summoned them there…

It was difficult to see much detail about the fortress, however, and he could really only go by moving silhouettes. Link would've described it as "pointy," what with all the shadows of spikes and towers and cannons jutting out every which way from the fortress. Spotlights scanned the surrounding waters, so the pirate ship couldn't get too close without risking getting found. However, the darkness also worked in their favor as well, as it helped obscure them as much as possible. Link doubted they would've been able to get so close in broad daylight.

Getting into the fortress, however, was going to present a bigger problem. Thick steel walls surrounded the inner structure, with the exception of one section where someone had blown it to bits on a previous adventure. However, more searchlights guarded this section vigorously to discourage intruders from using this route, and it was heavily protected by cannons scanning the waters.

Mako sidled up next to Link, adjusting his glasses to get a better look. "Strange, the searchlights had gone after Ganondorf disappeared the last time. I wonder why the monsters decided to come back here."

Vaati snapped his fingers at Link. "Give me the telescope. I want to see something," he motioned bossily. Link gave up the telescope he was using and handed it to Vaati with a grumble. Ignoring the blond, Vaati took the telescope and put it up to his eye that wasn't covered by his hair. If someone had been taking a close look at Vaati, they might've noticed how his gaze lingered at the area at the top of the tower, and then wander over to the other parts of the fortress, and then wander back towards the top once again. He couldn't pull his eyes away from what was sitting regally at the top of the fortress: the Helmaroc King.

But no one seemed to notice, and Vaati played it off coolly as though nothing could bother him. "The bird's at the top. We came to the right place," he announced simply. The wind mage turned to the pirates who were watching the fortress nervously. "You stay here and wait until I return with Link."

"How are we going to get past security?" Link asked.

Meanwhile, there was a visible sign of relief from the nervous pirates when they heard they wouldn't have to go to the fortress as well. They were a lot more helpful in finding a solution to the fortress now that they knew they wouldn't have to go into the monster pit. "Well, we can always use the catapult," Senza waved a hand over to the ship's contraption.

Link walked over to the 'catapult.' It looked more like a cannon than anything, and he assumed that the way it worked involved him climbing inside, and waiting to be shot out like a cannonball. It was very crude, and didn't look very safe. He hadn't liked being shot out of a cannon when he'd gone to the City in the Sky, but at least that cannon had appeared well constructed.

"It's a little risky," Senza noted after seeing Link's unenthusiastic face. "You lost your sword the last time you used it and you didn't come back to the ship for weeks."

Link brightened up. "Oh. Wait, I came here before? And survived? Can't be too bad, then."

Vaati stopped him curtly before Link could agree to climb into the cannon with questionable safety. He shook his head with disapproval, and whipped up a wind with the Wind Waker. "I think I can control the cyclone this time. We'll get in using this. If this goes well I can fly us right to the top."

"What if they shoot us?"

The mage arched his eyebrows, and scoffed. "Who would shoot a cyclone? That doesn't make sense."

Before any more objections could be heard, the wind picked up speed and sent the two up into the air towards the Forsaken Fortress.

XXXXXXXXXX

The ear-shattering roar of cannons blared through the sky as Link and Vaati hugged the fortress moat's wall quietly. Both of them had their fingers dug within the small cracks in the fortress foundation to keep their heads above the water. Vaati had never had to deal with swimming before, but he had managed to kind of splash his way over to the edge of the rock and clung onto the wall like a desperate remora. Link, on the other hand, absolutely could not swim with his heavy equipment: actually, Vaati was pretty sure Link wouldn't have been able to swim anyway even without the equipment weighing him down. He might've found the sight of Link splashing wildly while sinking funny, if he himself hadn't been so flabbergasted by what had happened.

"Who in Din's name would shoot a cyclone?" muttered Vaati after he had, half drowning as well, managed to pull Link closer to the wall where he wouldn't have to swim. "It's a waste of ammunition, and makes absolutely no sense."

They had been forced to leave the cyclone and drop to the water below when the canons had begun to open fire. Apparently nothing was going to fly into the Forsaken Fortress, including strange weather phenomenon.

Strange weather phenomenon – suddenly, it occurred to Vaati that the master of this Fortress was none other than his old companion, the Helmaroc King. Thistle had appeared to be Helmaroc's captive the last time he had seen those two fly away from Windfall Island. Maybe Helmaroc already knew about Vaati; if so, it wouldn't be so puzzling to realize Helmaroc would've already alerted the sentries to be mindful of strange weather phenomenon…

If the Helmaroc King already knew about Vaati this was going to be a lot more troublesome than he'd initially thought.

"I warned you," Link coughed sea water, snapping Vaati out of his train of thought. The hero then started to inch across the perimeter to somewhere safer, and motioned Vaati to follow. Moblin sentries were starting to gather near their landing point.

Progress was painfully slow, especially since neither could swim. Their clothes had also soaked up so much water that it was beginning to tire them out, and Link had to consider dropping his shield as it was becoming too heavy to continue. His fingers were constantly slipping from the slick rocks that were wet from water. He didn't have to sacrifice his shield, thankfully, because they were able to arrive at a stone platform with stairs that led to the open court in the middle of the fortress. Vaati quickly dried both of them with the Wind Waker so they wouldn't leave any suspicious puddles.

"Vaati, quick. Under here," Link whispered, and hid himself under one of the barrels that were piled next to them. Vaati followed suit; in a place like this, it was best to stay hidden for as long as possible so as not to attract dozens of monsters. As good as Link was at fighting, he wasn't sure the hero could handle that many foes at once by himself.

Just in time, a moblin stalked over to where they had been barely a second after they had concealed themselves. It raised a lantern over its head, found nothing glaringly out of place, and turned away to investigate elsewhere. Once they were out of earshot, Link knocked the side of his barrel to get Vaati's attention.

"Can you see out of your barrel? I have a hole in mine."

Link could hear a stare fizzling: the fizzle of Vaati staring at him like he was an idiot. "Yes. Why?"

"Okay, follow me. Carefully."

"Wait! Tell me first before you do something."

Link's barrel stopped moving and sat still, though a little impatiently. "We're going to sneak around with these barrels."

"That's not going to work."

"You don't know that."

Vaati refrained from raising his voice, which would draw attention. "The Helmaroc King won't be so stupid not to notice a pair of barrels walking around the fortress."

"You don't know that," Link said again, this time the impatience clearly evident in his voice.

"I've worked with him before, and I'm saying he's not that dumb!"

"And I'm saying I've fought and defeated him before so I know what I'm doing! Who's the one who always manages to infiltrate heavily defended fortresses?"

Vaati didn't want to answer that one. If barrels could sulk, Vaati Barrel was definitely sulking. "Fine. If Helmaroc finds us you better have a good idea to deal with him. I'm not helping."

Link began to walk up the steps while he still had the barrel covered over him. He slowly followed the moblin that was at the top of the stairs. Vaati stood where he was, incredulous. "This is stupid."

The moblin pivoted around when he heard steps behind him, and Link stopped abruptly. The firelight from the lantern cast shadows around the barrel that was suddenly at the top of the stairs instead of the bottom; the moblin didn't seem to notice. Instead, the monster was spooked by disembodied steps and hurried away.

Vaati came up with a barrel next to Link who was sniggering inside. The mage sighed heavily. "That might explain why my monsters could never seem to get rid of you."

"Yup. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself," Link suppressed his laughs.

"Has it always been like this?"

"I'm still standing, right? You really need to keep tabs on your minions."

Vaati growled, "It appears so."

"And you should also do something about your overconfidence. That's always been your downfall, right?"

Vaati's barrel shifted slightly. "I see. I'll take your advice into account for future reference," he said icily.

They continued across the court, stopping whenever a searchlight swooped over them. The moblins had already lost interest in the cyclone incident and had gone indoors, so they didn't need to worry about hiding from them. Vaati became increasingly discouraged about the monsters with every pass of the searchlight that failed to notice anything queer about barrels magically moving on their own.

The searchlights didn't notice, but the two sneaks didn't escape the notice of a pack of miniblins, devilish imps that were armed with pitchforks. Vaati would've been relieved to know that not all the monsters were as dimwitted as the moblins had been – unfortunately he never realized they were being followed thanks to the poor peripheral vision the barrels provided.

He also would have been relieved to know that the Helmaroc King also wasn't as stupid as he was becoming convinced at the moment. While Vaati was losing almost all faith in the ability of monsters to use common sense, the great bird was practically laughing at the scene below. With his keen raptor eyesight, the Helmaroc King had spotted the suspicious cyclone attempt to infiltrate the fortress, and then watched the entire comical scene of the infamous Sorcerer of Winds sneak around his fortress in a barrel.  _A barrel_. The Helmaroc King couldn't see everything because his bird eye rendered him close to blind at night, but he could see what was going on with each pass of the searchlight.

There were two barrels, and Helmaroc thought Vaati's ally had looked suspiciously like the hero. Of course, that was an unthinkable idea, and he passed it off as a trick of the light. There was no way his most esteemed master of the old days would walk ten feet away from the hero without trying to destroy him.

Impossible.

 _Unless_ …

The Helmaroc King ruffled his feathers with anticipation.  _Unless that really WAS the hero, and Lord Vaati had somehow caught him in some devious trap._ That would be such a great tale – it was something he didn't think Lord Ganondorf would be able to manage. Something like this – an idea of such devious trickery and sly deceit – was something only that snake-tongued Lord Vaati would be able to do. Of course he couldn't figure out just  _why_  Lord Vaati would go through such trouble, or even try to infiltrate his fortress in such a debasing and embarrassing way, but these sorts of mysteries were part of the reason why he truly respected Lord Vaati in the old days.

He would find out.

That is, if Lord Vaati was able to best his fortress to reach him.

The miniblins had formed a semi-circle behind the two walking barrels and lowered their pitchforks. One of them hopped towards the main fortress door to fetch some moblin sentries.

A searchlight passed over the barrels again, and the two stopped in time. Finally, one of the barrels hissed as they miraculously escaped notice once more. "This is ridiculous."

As soon as the barrel spoke, a moblin set both of them on fire. The miniblins scurried around to form a full circle of pitchforks to close off escape routes.

"What?" Link coughed as he batted flames from his tunic. Vaati had his arms over his eyes and nose to keep the stinging fumes away as he stumbled out of the burning barrel. Before they could realize what was going on, Two miniblins sprang onto the intruders and knocked them out cold.

XXXXXXXXX

"Ah, yes.  _I_  should do something about my overconfidence, correct? Of course,  _you_  don't have any problems with it," Vaati muttered bitterly when Link regained consciousness.

Link immediately looked around and saw that they had been thrown into a jail cell somewhere in the fortress. Three moblins were sitting around a wooden table on the other side of the bars, occupied with something that was blocked from his view.

The mage continued in a grim drone. "That's right.  _You_  obviously don't have problems with overconfidence. In fact, you have so little problems with it that you'll be able to get us out of here without any help from weapons."

Link's eyes went wide in horror as he realized what the sorcerer was implying. He patted around his tunic for his inventory bag, and his face lost color when he didn't find it.

Vaati laughed, though resentfully. "It appears you have underestimated what the monsters were capable of. It heartens me to see that they were not as dull as I had feared." His mouth twitched into a dangerous smile as he watched the moblins going through Link's various weapons and the Wind Waker.

Link wildly ran a lap around the tiny cell, trying to find a way out. There were none – no loose stones, secret passages, nothing.  _This was not good._


	36. Confidence Lost

After panicking for several minutes, Link noticed something hitting his leg every time he took a step. He reached over behind him, and was surprised when his hands closed around the hilt of the sword. The Master Sword was still with him.

Vaati smirked. "Ironic, isn't it? They left you with your most important weapon. It's probably because they couldn't touch it without hurting themselves – it's a holy sword after all."

Link unsheathed his sword and twirled it. "This is the part where I use the only weapon that's conveniently left to escape from near impossible situations, right?" He stepped back, and then lunged as he swung the sword at one of the bars.

_Clankkkkk!_

The moblins momentarily looked up at Link whose hands were tingling from the impact. They went back to examining the hero's inventory as they grunted in amusement, while Link shook his hands from the numbing sensation.

Vaati put his chin on his hands, and looked up at him from where he was sitting on the floor with contempt. "Overconfidence," he muttered, "it's made you incredibly stupid."

Link sheathed his sword and gripped the bars, watching a boomerang go flying across the room. It bothered him that the moblins were using  _his_  items haphazardly in front of them. Link glanced at the mage who appeared relaxed and unfazed. "Okay Vaati, you must have an idea to get us out if you don't even look worried."

Vaati yawned. "No, I don't. I've just accepted the fact that we can't do much except wait and see what happens."

"Haha, that was funny. Okay, so what's the idea?"

"I already told you, I don't have one."

"Of course you do. Tell me."

Vaati's eyes narrowed, and they were intense and furious when he stood up to face Link. "How can I make it any clearer? You've seen what the cell is like; no hidden escape routes. Unless you're strong enough to rip the iron bars apart we're not going to be able to escape." One of the moblins picked up the Wind Waker and scrutinized it. The mage tensed, "You! Don't touch that. That's _mine,_ " he hissed.

The moblin grinned, waved the Wind Waker in front of Vaati, and began to pick his teeth with it while the other monsters laughed. Vaati trembled in rage; he decided to vent his frustrations on Link.

"See that? Do you think I would let that fool do that if I had an idea of getting us out of here? NO."

Link stared at Vaati's white knuckles that were suddenly latched firmly on the collar of his tunic. "Um… got it."

"Useless," the mage spat, and punched him in the mouth before letting him go. It hadn't hurt much, but Link fell to the floor stunned and shocked by the fact that Vaati had hit him. Sufficiently aggravated by the situation, Vaati noticed Link's surprise and scowled in disgust. "What, so now the child is going to cry because a mean bully hit him?"

Link didn't hear the mage's mutterings as he was too preoccupied by their situation. He slumped to the floor in defeat. "So we're really just going to sit and wait…." His eyes turned to Vaati, searching for some sort of hope for getting out.

"I suppose I have to go pat your hand now and tell you everything will be all right," the mage rolled his eyes, his voice thick with sarcasm.

Link turned to the floor, letting the reality sink in. He wasn't used to 'waiting and seeing,' and he felt fidgety. Vaati snorted.

"At least there was one good thing about your barrel idea. Apparently the monsters thought we were so ridiculous we weren't worth tying up or killing immediately. If Helmaroc was actually watching I'd be too embarrassed to show my face," he added, thinking of how the great bird would let him hear no end of it.

The moblin with the Wind Waker continued to pick his teeth with the baton while watching the commotion his companions were making. Two moblins were scuffling over a bag of All Purpose Bait. One of them finally managed to wrench it away from the other, and the loser sulked over to look at the Power Bracelets in defeat.

"What do you think happened to that wizzrobe?" Link asked, recalling how Thistle had been Helmaroc's captive.

"Helmaroc probably ate him by now," Vaati snorted without concern.

Link frowned. "Then what are we actually here for?"

"In the remote chance he managed to survive and is around, we can force him to tell us what he knows."

Link remembered the last time they tried to force the renegade wizzrobe to tell them something. Their threats hadn't worked too well. "I don't know," he trailed off.

"Or we ask the Helmaroc King."

Now Link looked even more unsure. "I don't know," he repeated unhappily.

"Look we don't have any leads and this is the closest we have right now of figuring out what to do," Vaati snapped. "Besides, there's no point thinking about that right now when we're stuck in this jail cell."

Link tapped the side of his sword, biting his lip. "There has to be something…"

"If you want, I can cut you in little pieces so you'll fit through the bars."

Now, the two moblins had become interested at the skull hammer. Bait moblin from earlier grabbed it and shook it in the air, claiming it was his. Becoming jealous that Bait moblin seemed to be getting everything good, Bracelet moblin gritted his teeth and lunged at Bait in a full tackle.

"Are you even thinking of a way out?"

"No. It's pointless."

Link threw his hands in the air, exasperated by Vaati's uncaring attitude. "Can you at least look like you're trying?"

Vaati was about to answer when a sickening crack and the sound of iron snapping interrupted him. Heads turned towards Bracelet who had thrown Bait towards the jail, causing the bars to break. Bracelet was as surprised as everyone else with his strength; he hadn't understood the potential of the Power Bracelets when he had put them on. Bait lay dead from the impact, and he turned into a swirl of purple smoke, leaving behind the bait bag he had taken earlier.

Vaati stood up and walked towards the newly opened jail, the purple wisps of the dead moblin trailing his heels. He grinned devilishly. "Good work. We will be taking our leave."

Without another word, Link dashed out of the prison and felled the remaining moblins who were too stunned to fight back. Vaati watched the scene with amusement, thinking how differently the scene would've played out had their roles been reversed. Link was merciless in his slaughter, just like the wind mage would've been had he been able to cast magic. Still, no one would accuse Link of being cruel for shoving his sword into moblins in a routine manner. Once the last of the moblins had been dispatched, Vaati picked up the Wind Waker that had dropped to the floor, and then ran it through a torch until it was glowing red.

"I'm disinfecting it," he stated simply after seeing Link's questioning face.

Link shrugged, and gathered the weapons and items that had scattered around the room. He unhooked his shield that was displayed on a wall, and then took one last look around to make sure he hadn't missed anything.

Vaati's ears pricked up as he heard sounds of footsteps approaching. He glanced back at the wrecked jail cell and the missing moblin sentries. "The entire fortress is going to be looking for us now…"

Link noticed the footsteps as well, and he wasted no time taking out a coil of sturdy rope with claws on the end: the grappling hook. He swung it around and tossed it to the wooden beams running across the ceiling, climbed it, and urged the mage to follow. "Come on!"

Vaati's lips flattened into a straight line.

"Oh. You can't climb." The footsteps were closer. Link took out his hookshot and gazed at the pointed end uncertainly. He couldn't aim and shoot it at the mage without stabbing him, though it would be able to pull him up.

Vaati tapped his foot impatiently. "Hurry up and get me up there. Why are you always so slow?"

Link took another look at the hookshot.  _Hmmm… tempting_.

The footsteps were now by the door.

_Oh well, maybe later._

"Vaati! Catch the hookshot when I shoot it next to you, okay?" Link let the hookshot fly. Vaati caught it and was jerked up to the ceiling. They held their breath as eight moblins came barging into the room, attracted by the ruckus of the breaking bars earlier. Link still had his hookshot on his arm with Vaati hanging precariously off the edge as they hadn't the time to properly climb up onto the wooden beams. Vaati didn't struggle to get away from Link even though he was inches away from him, so close he was able to feel the boy's breath on his face; he was too preoccupied with being as still as possible to avoid catching the attention of the monsters below.

After what seemed like hours, the moblins went out of the rooms and alarms began to scream through the fortress. Vaati climbed onto the beam and the two intruders sighed simultaneously in relief. Link took a drink of water from his bottle and passed it to the mage who didn't complain about sharing this time.

"Ready?"

Vaati wiped his face with his sleeve and nodded, looking towards a small door across the beams. "Ready."

XXXXXXXXX

The door led them outside in a narrow walkway. The fortress had sprung to life in chaotic disorder with sirens blaring and the searchlights moving much more vigorously than before. Even more worrisome was the Helmaroc King: he was no longer settled relaxed in his nest. Instead, his head twisted and snapped from side to side as he scanned the fortress for the escapees, neck bent downwards in the position of a predator. Keen to avoid the Helmaroc King until they were in a better position to deal with him, Vaati signaled Link to run with his back ducked behind the walls to avoid the bird's gaze.

"We don't want it to catch us here. We'll get the Helmaroc on that tower where we'll have more room to maneuver." He pointed at the largest tower in the fortress that led to a lookout. It was out of the range of the cannons, so they would only have to deal with Helmaroc alone. "Then we'll hope he's still friendly enough towards me that we can ask him about Hyrule without fighting."

Link almost shot up in surprise. "You want to ask nicely instead of fighting? Who are you and what did you do to Vaati?"

"I would really prefer not to confront the Helmaroc King, but it would take too long to explain why," Vaati replied stiffly, and left it at that.

They ran through the next door and they found themselves looking down on a room from above. Miniblins and moblins were running and shouting in turmoil as each monster tried to get itself together to find the fugitives. A formidable line of moblins marched out of the room with lanterns and spears.

"Come on, we have to hurry before this place gets filled with monsters," Vaati whispered as he pointed to the next door across the room. There weren't any beams they could walk on to get to the other side, and the only thing they had a chance to use was a lantern swinging from the middle of the room.

Link nodded in agreement, jumped onto the lantern, and easily swung to the other side. Though he didn't want to admit it, Vaati wasn't athletically competent enough to repeat the technique, so they resorted to using the hookshot again. Unfortunately, the sound of Vaati scratching the ledge on his way across to the other side caused some of the miniblins to look up. They began to squeak and point upwards.

"Damn," Vaati growled as some monsters quickly ran out the door to cut them off from a different route. A pitchfork flew past him as a miniblin tried to skewer him. The mage scrambled up and grabbed Link's arm roughly. "Link, we're running. Forget sneaking."

The next door led outside again, and this time, it appeared word had gotten around that they were going to be there. Almost all the searchlights were focused on the place they were standing, and a line of moblins were steadily making their way up a stairwell from the main court. It was only a matter of time before the moblin army reached them.

Link and Vaati ran as fast as they could up the narrow, twisted ramp that led in the direction they were planning to fight the Helmaroc King. There weren't many monsters on their way up, but the alarms reminded them there were way too many closing the distance behind them.

Link skidded to a halt as he came across a gap that was too wide to jump across, Vaati following a few feet behind him and visibly out of breath from all of the running. Link noticed a thin ledge he could carefully slide across to make it to the other side.  _Here goes,_  he thought as he took a step onto the ledge.

Just as Vaati caught up, Link yelped and jumped backwards. An explosion rocked the tower they were on as a cannon blasted its way into the wall that Link had been standing against. They were now in line of cannon fire, and whoever was shooting was confident the fortress walls could handle a few explosions. Vaati summoned a small cyclone that brought the two of them hovering a few feet into the air to avoid another volley of cannons. "I'm going to take us to the top."

Suddenly, the mage hesitated when he heard a familiar shriek. "Dammit Helmaroc," he cursed as he maneuvered the cyclone towards the other side of the gap instead. They dropped to the ground, and he yanked Link to get him to run.

Vaati and Link were forced to stop in their tracks when a line of sharp feathers rained down in front of them. Vaati paled at the sight of the maroon feathers, almost half the length of his arm, sticking out from the stone walkway where they had managed to pierce into the rock like knives.

"Lord Vaati, it has been a while," Helmaroc landed in front of them imposingly. Vaati stood his ground, but he hadn't wanted to be cornered by the Helmaroc King so soon when they were pincered by the cannons as well.

"Not exactly," Vaati sneered, and he shushed away Link who looked as though he wanted to say something. He needed to handle this alone.

"A couple of hundred years since you've gone missing, presumed dead even, and you think that's not a while?" Helmaroc sneered back in a similar fashion. "You've been gone too long. Your throne has been replaced by the King of Darkness himself."

Ah. Helmaroc really did know how to give him a rise. Vaati was careful not to reveal too much emotion, however; the Helmaroc King had been one of his most troublesome monsters because he was always testing Vaati's worthiness for the title 'Lord,' but at the same time that had been why he had respected the monster as his shrewd and reliable ally. Their sharp barbed exchanges were their normal way of greeting. "And you, as well. You never came back after your defeat. You let the Tower of Flames fall to this  _boy_."

Link was unexpectedly pushed towards the Helmaroc King. In a fit of confusion, he almost dropped his sword. Link turned from the looming bird to Vaati with befuddlement plastered all over his face. He had no idea what Vaati's plan was, and he wondered if Vaati had any concern for his safety. Link ran back to Vaati's side when he felt uncomfortable standing too close to the giant bird. That was when he noticed a small bead of sweat rolling down Vaati's nose, and he understood what this was.

It was just like when Vaati had gone up against Argorok in a battle of bluffs. Except this time, the Helmaroc King knew him a lot better than Argorok.

The Helmaroc King clacked its beak. To Link's surprise he apologized. "I'm sorry for my embarrassing failure." The bird hung its head in a bow. Then, it appeared to grin. "Though I must say I wouldn't have been able to win against one who also managed to defeat Lord Vaati himself."

Some tension seemed to dissipate from the atmosphere with the Helmaroc King finally acknowledging Vaati's title. The bird took a step back and folded its wings that had previously been spread wide in a threatening manner. Vaati, however, appeared cautious to drop his guard.

The sorcerer sniffed. "You don't miss a chance to take a stab at me, do you Helmaroc?"

"Just helping you stay sharp, Lord Vaati." Helmaroc brought its head closer to the sorcerer, tilting it questioningly. "Now that the pleasantries are over with, can I ask what business you have barging into my fortress?"

Vaati hesitated briefly, as he hadn't thought of a good way to phrase their reason for being here. The hesitation was his first blunder, and he regretted it later.

"There's something curious about you, Lord Vaati. I've noticed it since you've arrived here." The Helmaroc King interrupted the sorcerer before he could say anything, and Vaati began to grow uneasy from the way the bird was now scrutinizing him. "You're not the confident sorcerer you used to be, do you understand what I'm saying?"

"No, I don't," Vaati returned with a chilling smile that fell just short of intimidating. He had a bad feeling about where this conversation was headed, and that was the beginning of the end when you were talking with the Helmaroc King. The bird liked to play upon doubts and insecurities, and when he noticed it in your mannerisms and voice, he would mercilessly pounce on you.

The Helmaroc King's feathers that had smoothed over on its back were beginning to rise again. "Even as we speak right now, I think I hear something foreign in your voice. It sounds like you're afraid."

 _Helmaroc, I wish you were stupid like Argorok was._ It was becoming increasingly difficult for Vaati to maintain eye contact with the Helmaroc King's unflinching golden eyes. It was times like these he was really reminded of the reason why Helmaroc was regarded as 'King' in his own right.

Helmaroc continued. "And I can't help but wonder, would the Vaati I had known in the past done something as…  _ridiculous_ … as walking around with a barrel over his head," Helmaroc's eyes narrowed dangerously, "and with the hero with him no less?" It didn't escape Vaati that just now, the bird hadn't referred to him as Lord.

"Don't you think you're testing my patience, Helmaroc?" Vaati growled, but he couldn't follow with a plausible threat like he'd done with Argorok. He knew Helmaroc would gladly welcome it as a challenge to prove each other's titles. Vaati couldn't risk proving anything right now.

Unfortunately, Helmaroc caught on to the missing threat that should've followed. The bird screeched, and Vaati flinched in surprise. The Helmaroc King noticed the sorcerer's reaction and this time didn't pause to pin him down under a talon. "No, Vaati,  _you_  are the one testing my patience today," Helmaroc hissed. "Don't tell me you're resorting to these idiotic displays because you can't cast spells?"

 _Well, this went well_. Vaati sighed, and tried to maintain his calm façade. "There was a slight mishap. Incidentally, that's why I followed you here: to see if you knew where Hyrule or Ganondorf might be so I can fix this issue."

A sharp pain crushed through his ribs, and Vaati gasped for breath when the talon that clutched him squeezed him against the ground. Apparently that had been the wrong answer.

"You came to me to ask for help? And because Lord Ganondorf did something to you? And on top of that you are working with the hero? _You appall me with every word!"_  Helmaroc screeched.

"I'm not working with the hero, it's just that circumstances – "

" _You might as well have known that I'm going to kill you, Vaati!"_

 _Indeed, this talk went very well_ , Vaati thought sourly. He wasn't too worried, however, because he was pretty sure that Link wouldn't be able to stand by and watch all of this without doing something about it. He smirked when an explosion went off right above the Helmaroc King's talon that was holding him down: Link had shot a bomb tied to an arrow towards the bird's limb. He immediately scrambled away as soon as the weight of Helmaroc's talons lifted off of him. Vaati waved the smoke from the explosion away from his face as the sharp chemical scent from the bomb hit his nose.

He saw Link wrenching open the doors leading inside the tower.

"Vaati!" Link cried, waiting for him.

Vaati took one last look at the Helmaroc King who took to the air in fury. The monstrous bird shrieked and dove towards them. Vaati waved the Wind Waker and summoned a sharp gust that sent the bird careening off course. Then, he ran towards Link and the two dashed inside and slammed the door close. They heard something smash against the door, followed by angry screeching.

"I guess we'll have to do this the old fashioned way, huh?" Link made an attempt at being light-hearted as he leaned against the door to catch his breath. They were now on one of the top floors of the tower along a walkway. It wrapped around a large chasm in the middle.

"Yeah…"

Link looked up in surprise by how somber Vaati had sounded. The blond was about to ask if he was feeling all right, but he froze when he heard a door swing open somewhere in the room they were in.

A blue mass of moblins came pouring out of the door on the far side of the chamber, and some of them fell down the chasm in the middle as they were pushed off the side of the wooden platform.

Vaati laughed bitterly. "The monsters are good this time, aren't they?"


	37. Feather Rain

The platform Link and Vaati were on was in a U shape, with Link and Vaati on one side and the moblins on the other. There was a large door near the middle of the "U," and it was going to be a race to see if it was the escapees or the moblins to reach it first. They all began to run at once.

"Vaati, can't you blow them away with the Wind Waker?" Link yelled as he ran. He could see that the moblins were going to reach them as soon as they got to the door.

"This is indoors! It only works outside!" the mage gasped. He ducked as some of the moblins were in range to throw spears.

Link unsheathed his sword as they neared the door and faced the moblin hoard. He swung it a few times to prevent the moblins from circling around him and Vaati. "Get the door, I'll come soon," he ordered. Link took out a bomb and threw it in front of the moblins, causing the group to back up hurriedly. Through the smoke, a few spears flew haphazardly around him as some of the monsters found an opportunity to throw them.

Vaati didn't wait as he sped up the steps to the door while Link held off the moblins. He heaved open the wooden bars that bolted it shut. Vaati struggled against its weight, not used to physical work, but he eventually managed to free it. "Link, get over here."

Link left another bomb behind for the moblins, and then sprang up the steps, flying past the open door as the bomb exploded. The two wrenched the door shut and bolted it from inside. They stood facing it for several minutes as sounds of determined ramming issued from the other side.

The two were surprised when the ramming suddenly stopped.

"Did they give up?" Link took a step towards the quiet door.

Vaati, meanwhile, had turned around and his red eyes were darting from side to side, taking in the surroundings. They were finally inside the tower they had planned to confront the Helmaroc King, and Vaati was having second thoughts about his idea to run here. He didn't like the strangeness of it. And it really was a strange tower – he had imagined multiple floors they would have to scale, not a tower that was essentially a single hollow cylinder. There was a pool of water at the bottom, and an unsteady, broken wooden walkway spiraled up along the walls all the way to the top. A large empty cell also sat at the bottom like an abandoned rat cage. That was it. There was nothing else. What could be the purpose of this tower?

As in answer, there was a grinding metallic groan that pierced the air. Link and Vaati's head snapped up when they noticed the ceiling was opening up, letting in the icy night wind.

"Link, start running. We can't let the bird catch us here," Vaati let out a sharp breath of air as water began to rise.

They began to run up the walkway as a distant screech rang from above. Vaati was leading with Link following closely behind.

Link was trying to focus on not falling off the edge into the rising water when something slammed behind him and sent splinters exploding everywhere. He nearly lost his footing when he chanced a look back and saw the Helmaroc King inside the tower. "Goddesses, the thing's inside!"

Vaati didn't dare look back, but his voice hid a bitter laugh. "Smart bird, right? He was one of my favorites. Too bad he likes Ganondorf better now." He turned his head over his shoulder just long enough to summon some wind to hold back the Helmarc King from advancing, but he was only able to create a slight breeze. While it managed to push the bird down away from them a little, he was able to recover quickly. "Link, I can't use the Wind Waker yet," Vaati growled.

The mage became distracted when the Helmaroc King shot back high over their heads towards the roof, and he wasn't prepared when a bokoblin jumped out of a pot that was sitting on the path. The monster snarled, swinging its cutlass, and Vaati lost his footing and fell down into the water below.

"Vaati!" Link gasped, looking over the edge. He abruptly looked up as a dark shadow hovered above him.

_Kreeeee!_

"Ah!" Link jumped out of the way as the Helmaroc King made another dive, ripping through the walkway and sending the bokoblin with it. Link barely managed to hang on to the remaining planks, and he pulled himself back up to the broken path, ignoring the splinters that dug into his bare hands. The Helmaroc King flapped its wings and steadied itself until it hovered in the middle of the tower. It turned its attention away from Link momentarily to mark Vaati trying to swim back onto the walkway; an easier target. Link could clearly see the Helmaroc King's eyes, partially hidden by its helm, squint into a look of merciless condescension.

"Vaati! Watch out!"

The mage frantically tried to reach the walkway as the Helmaroc King folded its wings towards its body and plummeted towards him at a terrifying speed. He knew he wasn't going to be fast enough to reach the platform.  _Crap. I hate my ex-ally._

Out of the corner of his eye, the mage noticed something splashing along side him. It was the bokoblin that had fallen with him, and it was almost within arms reach as it determinedly paddled his way. Vaati made a split-second decision, and he took a deep breath as he dove underwater.  _I hope this works_.

It was like someone with a large wooden board had slammed Vaati's back when the force of the Helmaroc King's impact tumbled him through the water. The bird crashed into the pool, and Link covered his face as water erupted all the way up towards where he was standing. He clung to the edge of the walkway, trying to make out what was going on down below. Seconds later, the behemoth exploded from the pool and flew off holding a struggling figure tightly in its claws, creating a shower with its wings.

Before Link could freak out, Vaati spluttered and coughed, pulling himself out of the water and onto what was left of the path. Link had a look of relief on his face when Vaati caught up, completely drenched but still very much alive.

Even though he could have appreciated a few minutes of rest, Vaati pushed forward. "Come on. He'll come back when he realizes he caught the bokoblin instead of me."

Link went first this time, making sure to smash any more suspicious pots. Some of them had monsters inside, like the bokoblin pot that had caused Vaati to fall earlier. When they finally reached the top of the tower, they heard a furious screech signaling the return of the Helmaroc King. As it flew towards them, Link could see the bloody beak that hinted at the fate of the bokoblin it had captured by mistake. "That was a cute trick, Vaati," the bird sneered.

As soon as Vaati's foot left the wooden platform and stepped out onto the tower ceiling, it started to close again so that there was no longer a gaping hole in the middle where they were at the risk of falling to the water. It appeared to be a good thing if at first: then, Vaati put everything together and realized what a mistake that was. The water had been rising to force whoever was foolish enough to be herded into the main tower to become trapped to where they were now.

 _I knew there was something fishy about the tower…_  Vaati thought as he turned circles to reevaluate their situation. Link appeared horrified.

"Uh Vaati? You said you wanted to fight  _here_?" Link yelped as looked around the top of the roof that appeared more like a fight rink than anything, with severe disadvantages to anyone incapable of flying. There were large, bloodstained and immaculately sharpened spikes running all along the railings, and they were all pointed towards the trapped escapees.

"It kind of ended up like this, all right? It's not like I could've known about the spikes!" Vaati retorted defensively.

The Helmaroc King chuckled. "Unfortunately you're no different than anyone else who comes up here without your powers, Vaati." Helmaroc began to beat his wings rapidly to unleash a barrage of sharp feathers, "And that means you will die. And you will die next to  _him_."

Link blocked the rain of lethal feathers with his shield, while Vaati managed to deflect most of them with a small whirlwind. One, however, grazed him by the shoulder, but he didn't know what hurt more: the slight gash, or Helmaroc's words that were thick with disappointment. The sorcerer's cheeks flushed red.

Disappointment wasn't something Vaati had to deal with often, and there was just something about that word that drove him insane. He had always,  _always_ , stood on the side of success in his point of view. Even when he had failed he had never found cause to be disappointed in himself; just in other people like his underlings. He was never to blame. He was never supposed to  _be_  part of the blame.

And when someone put it so bluntly it hurt like a slap in the face – like a slap by a woman except not as sexy. Just simply humiliating.

His fists clenched so tightly around the Wind Waker it might've snapped, Vaati raised the baton slowly into the air while the Helmaroc King circled for another attack. His face was pulled taut, and his voice shook ever so slightly. "All right, Helmaroc. I'm going to teach you what happens when you disobey."

"Die with the hero, traitorous sorcerer! You were never the same as us!"

Vaati summoned a powerful gust that pushed the bird sharply away from the tower just as it dove towards them. Startled by the sudden wind, the Helmaroc King squawked and retreated. The bird flew in a wide arc, disappearing momentarily into the night sky as it analyzed its next move.

The wind mage, however, knew where the Helmaroc King was. He couldn't see the bird very well, but the wind told him everything: when the bird was beating its wings, and when it was coming straight back towards the tower.

"What do you have in mind?"

Link's cautious question brought him momentarily back out of his thoughts. Vaati noticed the blond already had the heavy Skull Hammer out; Link always did know what weapons to use against boss monsters. Link's expression suggested the other boy was worried for Vaati, as though he didn't trust that the sorcerer could take down the Helmaroc King alone.

While Link did have good grounds of assuming so, in the current situation it just made Vaati even more upset. If he was calm and rational, he would have agreed that he would need Link's help in taking down a monster that was probably even more difficult to defeat than the dragon Argorok.

But he was sick of being calm and rational. He'd had enough of this and if things went poorly then screw the whole universe and everyone in it.

"Keep the hammer out but stay the fuck out of my way."

"Bwha?" Link almost dropped the hammer down onto his foot. He blankly stared at Vaati who turned his heel to stand defiantly in the middle of the roof, completely open to all attacks as though to say 'bring it on.' Vaati was upset; there was no doubt about it. Link had rarely ever heard the sorcerer use explicit language even in the most trying of times, so this was probably a huge deal for him. He wasn't really sure what it was that had Vaati so angry, but one thing was sure: the mage was going to mess up by acting impulsively on his emotions again. That was the problem with Vaati: he was only ever calculating when his head was cool. As soon as something upset him or his plans, Vaati had a tendency to screw things up by acting with impatience. While that worked to Link's advantage when he was the one fighting Vaati, it wasn't a good thing at all when they were working together.

"Vaati wait," Link began, and ran towards the wind mage to join him in the middle of the roof. Just then, The Helmaroc King returned with wings spread wide.

To Link's horror, Vaati turned his back on Helmaroc and raised the Wind Waker at him with a glint in his eye that was near insane. " _You will stay out of my affairs, boy, if you know what's good for you!_ "

Link wasn't exactly sure what had happened next. All he really remembered was that there was a lot of wind batting him around from all different directions like someone had dropped him in the middle of a tornado. He thought he remembered the Helmaroc King sending a mighty gale with the force of its wings, sending him flying precariously towards the spikes. Then, he'd been slammed towards the cold stone where he had lost all sense of direction. The only thing he knew he had to do with certainty was to dig his fingers into the cracks on the ground to stop himself from being skewered by the spikes lining the walls.

Through the whirlwind, Link squinted and looked up to see what had happened to Vaati. His eyes widened in surprise.

The wind mage was standing, calm, as though nothing had happened. The wind was savagely raging around him, but he didn't need to fight against it as Link had done. If anything, he appeared relaxed as he brought up the Wind Waker and waved it sharply downwards, sending the Helmaroc King whirling down onto the roof. The Wind Waker was faintly glowing blue, and the binding curse's bright runes were spiraling madly around the mage's wrists and the baton.

The enormous bird crashed just before the sorcerer's feet, and its startled scream was deafened by the wind's roar. A few of the razor feathers scattered around the arena played against the Helmaroc King when they were lifted into the air and shot through its wings, pinning it to the ground. There was a small flick of the Wind Waker, and Link felt the Skull Hammer escape his hands with a magical gust.

The wind settled as soon as Vaati put the Wind Waker away and picked up the Skull Hammer that had been pushed towards his feet. Helmaroc's unintelligible, angry shrieking was audible now as it struggled to free itself from its own feathers that Vaati had used to pin it down.

Wordlessly, Vaati calmly heaved the heavy hammer over his shoulder and brought it down on Helmaroc's head in an almost detached manner.

There was a hideous crack that made even Link wince and turn away. Helmaroc stopped struggling, and its wings fell limp as its helm crumbled away from its head from the hammer's impact. With that one crack of the hammer, everything abruptly became eerily silent. Link could now faintly hear what Vaati and the Helmaroc King were saying.

"Who's going to kill who, Helmaroc?" Vaati lowered the heavy hammer and it thunked next to his feet.

Helmaroc's eyes slowly fluttered open, and he weakly shifted his head so he could get a better look at Vaati. "But… impossible."

"It's true I'm not what I used to be," Vaati said sternly, "but that doesn't mean I'm completely incapacitated. You never let me explain."

Helmaroc snapped its beak, but its breath was raspy and weak. "You of all people should know that no amount of explaining will excuse you from working with the hero."

"I have my reasons."

"He's the reason for our downfall!"

Vaati took a menacing step forward and brought the hammer back up over his head. "One chance, Helmaroc. Will you help me find Ganondorf or are you going to be stubborn about it?"

"I'll help."

Vaati lowered the hammer, surprised at how easy that had been.

"On the condition that you kill him," Helmaroc added, his piercing gaze moving towards Link who was kneeling on the ground and watching with a mystified expression.

Ah. Of course it wasn't that easy.

Noting the flicker of hesitation passing over Vaati's face, the Helmaroc King let out a small chuckle. "It's either him or me, Lord Vaati. One of us has to go, and it's up to you to decide. I bow my head to you most humbly with my defeat, but no amount of respect will keep me from ripping the flesh off of you if you decide to work with the hero. If you release me now I will come after your neck."

"Helmaroc, I…" Vaati stopped talking. What could he say? That he's just using Link to defeat Ganondorf? That would never fly well with the Helmaroc King, who was strictly against using a pawn for the reason that you weren't able to do the job alone.

He would pick the Helmaroc King over Link any day, except… except he couldn't defeat Ganondorf that way.

Why? Why were there only two choices?

"Just tell me where Ganondorf is. Then I'll leave." Vaati's voice was stiff, but his eyes were almost pleading.

The Helmaroc King gave a harsh shriek. "How many times must you disappoint me, Lord Vaati?"

Again, it was that invisible slap that made him bite his cheek a little harder and avert his eyes a little lower. He couldn't get a handle on his emotions: was he angry? Yes, he was definitely angry, but he wasn't really sure to who or where the anger was directed. He was angry with Helmaroc for not understanding him, he was angry at the whole stupid situation that was the cause of all this, he was angry with Ganondorf for existing, he was angry with Link who was always complicating everything.

He was angry with himself for being so utterly pathetic.

But along with that anger was gut-wrenching pain.

Silently, Vaati lifted the Skull Hammer for the last time. He kept his eyes on the Helmaroc King the whole time, determined not to look away.

The bird lifted its eyes with faint surprise, and then it sneered scornfully. "I see. In the end you side with the hero. You side with Light." It tittered bitterly. "Of course I shouldn't have been surprised, Vaati. You were never truly with the Dark. Your blood is of the race that spawned that nefarious sword…"

_Crack!_

The hammer fell, striking the Helmaroc King and crushing his skull, killing him. Vaati wished he could have said it fell gracefully, but it was heavy and it dropped crudely. Clumsily. And Helmaroc was gone, just like that.

The hammer dropped to the ground as it slipped from Vaati's fingers. Numb, a part of him was shocked at what he had done. He hadn't expected he would drop the hammer so suddenly – he hadn't prepared himself for that. But then again, who could prepare for something like that? The Helmaroc King's head was gruesomely disfigured, but at the same time he couldn't wrench his gaze away from the corpse. Like some weird form of self-punishment, he couldn't take his eyes away from it.

Just couldn't.

What was it? Why could he still hear Helmaroc's words in his head?

Shut up, leave me alone. You're just a voice. I killed you – get out of my head.

_I see. In the end you side with the hero._

That's not true.

_You side with the Light._

You gave me no choice.

_Of course I shouldn't have been surprised._

You were my favorite.

_You were never truly with the Dark._

But I wanted to be.

_Your blood is of the race that spawned that nefarious sword…_

"No!" Vaati screamed. He reached out towards the fractured beak in front of him, but as soon as his fingers touched the dead bird it oozed into purple smoke and dissipated as all monsters do. The smoke puffed up into the sky, catching the attention of the fortress searchlights that turned towards the top of the tower. The light shone on the soft feathers that had risen upwards with the smoke and were now softly fluttering back down towards the ground. Words screamed through Vaati's head. Relentlessly. Viciously. Crazily.

I didn't have a choice! You gave me no choice. You could have just told me where Ganondorf was. You could have just flown away. It wasn't my fault. It's all because of you. It's all because of Ganondorf. It's all because of Link. _It's all because of Link_. _Link._

Vaati whirled around when he finally noticed Link standing awkwardly behind him, trying to catch his attention. The blond scratched his head while avoiding the sorcerer's gaze and mumbled apologetically. "Hey so… I'm going to see what's up there," Link waved a hand towards a narrow path that had revealed itself with the defeat of the fortress king. "If you want to find me I'll be up ahead."

Vaati didn't say anything as Link hurried away to leave Vaati to himself. Vaati scowled, annoyed, once the boy was gone. "It's not like it's a big deal," he spat.

Feathers. Stupid feathers falling everywhere. Wish they would disappear.

"It's not a big deal. I just killed a stupid bird, that's all."

A small feather landed on his forehead. Vaati brushed it off irritably.

"Not a big deal."

XXXXXXXXXXX

" _Lord Vaati, do you remember when we first met? I tried to kill you!" The Helmaroc King laughed in good humor from his perch at the Palace of Winds. Vaati didn't look up, and continued to stare at the horizon with a bored expression._

" _Not really. It probably wasn't that eventful to me," the sorcerer drawled, but a very faint curl of a smile found its way on the corner of his lips. "And besides, that hasn't changed much has it?"_

" _You show me my place every time, Vaati. But one of these days I'll reclaim the sky as my own. I don't like to share."_

" _Neither do I."_

_The Helmaroc King stretched its wings, letting the wind coast beneath its feathers. "However, as long as I recognize you as Lord, you can be sure of one thing,"_

_Vaati glanced up ever so slightly to acknowledge Helmaroc._

" _I will be your most faithful servant, Lord Vaati. A good friend. I swear on my honor I won't disappoint you."_

_The sorcerer snorted, apparently unimpressed. He had his back to the great bird so the Helmaroc King couldn't tell that he was, however, smiling._

" _I already know that."_

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"It's not a big deal…" Vaati repeated quietly, the feathers continuing to fall around him like snow. A long feather was clutched in his hands, and it pricked at his palms so that they bled a little. He didn't care.

A few beads of water dropped onto the feather in his hands, and it rolled down towards the tip as it left a wet trail. His vision was a little blurry.

"My stupid hair… I can't see…"

His eyes couldn't see, yet he couldn't escape the image of Helmaroc's last moments when the bird had looked at him with disappointment and regret in those large golden eyes.

"Stop looking at me like that."

A trickle of tears. No. Those weren't tears. Just some moisture from the air...

_I see. In the end you side with the Hero._

The last feather dropped to the ground. Vaati finally raised his head, searching for something, anything.

He let out a whisper.

"What am I doing…?"


	38. Return to Dark

Vaati walked up the pathway like a ghost to catch up with Link. He was lost in his own world, paying little attention to reality except to put his right foot ahead of his left foot, and his left foot ahead of his right foot. He hardly noticed that he was still clutching a feather, and that the white down had been smeared a dirty red from the scratches across his palms.

It was just a bird. It wasn't a big deal. It wasn't like he'd felt remorse when he had learned how Link had defeated it the first time at the Tower of Flames. In fact, all he remembered feeling back then was fury at Helmaroc's failure.

Furious. That was it. He had been furious at Helmaroc's incompetence and failure to stop Link. Tonight, however, guilt, shame, and a whole mixture of confusing emotions had accompanied anger.

 _It was different tonight_ , he thought as he continued to walk mechanically up the path. He'd let Helmaroc down by not being the great sorcerer the monster had come to respect. It wasn't his fault he had lost his sorcery, but it wasn't like diplomacy ever worked with monsters – that just wasn't in their vocabulary. An excuse would have just added to the disgust the bird felt for him. Even though he knew the Helmaroc King wouldn't have forgiven him for an explanation, he still regretted not being able to explain. Just to get it off of his chest…

But so what? Why should he care what the Helmaroc thought of him? Back then he wouldn't have given a second thought and would have punished his followers severely for showing even the slightest contempt. Back then he would have thought Helmaroc had gotten what he'd deserved.

… But back then he'd never had to choose between Link and the Helmaroc. There would have been no question on where he would stand, but the situation tonight had forced him to take a good look at what he had been reduced to. He was a pathetic creature depending pitifully  _on his enemy for goddesses'_   _sake,_  to help him. He'd chosen the enemy he was bound to destroy over one of his most loyal friends.

_You were never truly with the Dark._

Vaati involuntarily turned his head away, even though the Helmaroc King was long gone, and it was only a phantom of his voice that still echoed from the grave. It was true, wasn't it? If he really were one of them, and not some Minish deviant who had simply wished to be one of them, would he still have acted as he had done?

_What am I doing?_

His eyes finally stirred, and they lifted towards the silhouette of the green-clad boy sitting along the edge of a cabin at the end of the walkway. Link's shoulders were drooped morosely, and he was kicking his feet at a pebble on the ground. A mean glint appeared in Vaati's eyes that had been missing for a while, and they glowed with a somewhat chilling determination. Something had dawned on him as though he had remembered an important fact he'd forgotten.

It was Link after all. Link was the one he needed to be after, not Ganondorf. In his rage to exact revenge on the Gerudo and to regain his power, he had forgotten his ultimate goal: to erase the hero. The incongruity between his sense of self and his actions, his sense of being "Vaati" and his actions of working with his eternal enemy, was the root of his problems. His self-worth and his purpose in life had been shattered the moment he had taken it upon himself to work with Link: why hadn't he realized that before? He'd been so blinded by his need to defeat Ganondorf that he had lost touch with what he had been doing.

It had been a mistake to act as though he and Link were actually friendly. Talking of "teamwork" and "working together" had been the poison he had unintentionally taken with Link's stupidly upbeat outlook on life. It was the hero's way of seeing things, and Vaati refused to be one.

_Thank you, Helmaroc, for putting me back on the right path. Your death will not have been in vain._

Link turned his head towards Vaati a little nervously when the mage approached the cabin at the top of the fortress. The cabin appeared to have suffered a strong fire, and no one had bothered to fix it. Its charred frames were the only things that remained of the place, and there didn't appear to be anything left of value. Link wiped away the black soot that had gotten on his clothes. "Are you all right?" he asked tentatively. He had left Vaati to himself where he had defeated Helmaroc, and now that the mage had returned there was something a little… sinister about him in the way he stood, the way he walked, and the way his eyes had a glimmer of disregard. Or maybe it was just the fact that the monsters had all gone after they had seen the Helmaroc King's death, and the creepy way the searchlights were abandoned, still pointing to the sky, were influencing his thoughts.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Vaati snapped.

Link looked away, not sure of how to act. He'd never seen Vaati so upset before – he'd appeared almost sad. Link wondered if he'd imagined the slightly red tinge of Vaati's eyes. "I'm sorry about your bird…"

"It wasn't mine."

There was silence again, and Link fidgeted uncomfortably. He stole a few curious and worried glances towards the Wind Waker in Vaati's hand, and then he also noticed that Vaati was still holding one of the Helmaroc King's feathers and that his palms were bleeding. Something was definitely wrong, but he couldn't really do anything about it if Vaati didn't want to talk.

And… he had the feeling that Vaati was angry at him for some reason. He almost flinched when Vaati whirled around fiercely in a sudden movement.

"We're leaving. We have no business here."

"But then that means – "

"We're back to square one," Vaati interrupted, laughing harshly.

Link paled. He wasn't used to gaining nothing out of an excursion, and the meaningless of what they had just gone through gave him a bit of a shock. No treasure at the end of the fight, no helpful tips, no clues.

Not even a single fairy to at least soothe their wounds.

Vaati laughed even more when he saw Link's expression, and he continued his near insane laughter for a full minute. Not even the Poes could cackle in the likes of the sad, tormented laughter that rang from the top of the Forsaken Fortress.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, the pirate crew was headed back to Windfall Island to see if the locals had heard anything peculiar. It was the only sailor's port for miles, and it was the most developed island; it was their best shot to gather any information regarding the whereabouts of Ganondorf or Hyrule. Link watched Vaati issuing orders at the crew who had gained a new respect for their captain after he had returned alive from the Forsaken Fortress. If the mage hadn't recovered from the loss of the Helmaroc King, he didn't show it. A good leader never wavered or demonstrated weakness in front of his followers, and Vaati had years of experience with underlings to know how to successfully lead.

And boy, was Vaati good at it. Link was sure the mage didn't have a clue about how to run a ship, but he someone managed to fit in perfectly into the role of captain. Of course, no one dared question him; that might have had something to do with the obedience.

Vaati's demeanor had completely changed since their return from the Forsaken Fortress, surprising Link. A veil of calm surrounded Vaati instead of that insane, broken mess he had been after Helmaroc's death. He walked again with confidence, and his eyes somehow managing to look down on everyone even though he was a good head shorter than most of the pirates. Most surprising of all was the fact that Vaati rarely used threats to get his demands across, and his words were less shouty and more civil. He was the walking image of a haughty, privileged bourgeoisie – similar to how he had behaved back when he had reigned supreme. This calmness, however, was a mask: Link was sure of it. He knew that one little thing would set Vaati off back to murderous insanity – he very much doubted that the Vaati laughing manically last night was completely gone. No, he was just hiding behind that deceitfully smooth mask…

He watched Vaati discussing something with Nudge by the front of the ship. He appeared to be explaining their next course of action in a stern, yet unusually friendly manner. Vaati casually waved the Wind Waker around as he talked animatedly, while Nudge nodded once in a while to agree.

Ah, the Wind Waker. Link wished he'd kept that artifact hidden away from Vaati if only he'd known what it could do. Before, the sorcerer had been all bark and no bite, and Link was assured that he could control Vaati if he got out of hand. Now, with the Wind Waker, Vaati didn't have to bark. He could just choose to bite the head off of whoever displeased him. The mage didn't have to be scary to prove he was powerful because he  _knew_  he was powerful.

This scared Link more.

"Staring isn't polite. Do you have something you want to ask me, boy?"

Link woke up from his train of thought, as Vaati was suddenly standing in front of him, exuding confidence. There was a mischievous and rather nasty glint in the sorcerer's eyes that hinted he was out to trap Link with that question. "Go on," it said. It dared.

Link frowned. He wasn't going to let Vaati's new arrogance get to him now. "Why do you wear purple?" he asked unblinkingly, daring right back.

Vaati arched an eyebrow, and then sneered. "Because I like it. Surely that can't be the question you wanted to ask. Anything, ask me anything." Vaati swung his legs over the railings of the ship, sitting precariously on the edge as though he was already the emperor of the world and could care less if he fell.

Link scowled. "If I buy five apples a day for six rupees each and sold them for eight rupees each, and for every two I sold I had to sell one for half-price, how many days will it take me to gain one hundred rupees if one additional person bought apples each day?"

Vaati's sneer twitched downwards. "Ask it, Link. That wasn't the question."

"It was. Now answer."

"You gain negative rupees because you're not a sharp salesperson to be able to sell anything," Vaati growled, clearly not amused. However, it only took a few seconds for his frown to flip back up to a grin. "I'll tell you what's bothering you. It's this, am I correct?" He brought the Wind Waker close to Link's face, waving it in front of him.

Link became quiet. Vaati was right – it was the Wind Waker. Back at the Forsaken Fortress, Vaati had stunned him by holding so much control over the wind. It was almost as though the Wind Mage was back at full power, or at least eighty percent. The Helmaroc's attacks hadn't been able to touch the sorcerer once he'd had free reign in open air. When Link had seen the wind mage standing cool and composed with the air raging around him, the hero had caught a glimpse of how deadly Vaati could be if he regained his magical abilities. Link had nearly forgotten, and the experience had been a grim reminder of who he was dealing with. Further more, he was still uncomfortable by the way something seemed to have snapped in the sorcerer's head after Helmaroc had died.

Vaati's grin widened when he saw Link's discomfort. "The Wind Waker," he chuckled, twirling the silver baton between his fingers. "I made an interesting discovery at the fortress. Care to listen?" He jumped up, balancing on his toes as he hopped along the ship's railing. He whisked the baton across his chest with a smug look on his face.

Link felt a change in air pressure as dark clouds formed overhead. Thunder rolled, muting Vaati's giddy laughter.

"You see, Link, this baton has the ability to partially disable my binding curse. I believe its strong affinity to wind combined with my own can slightly negate the curse. As long as I limit my magic to something wind-based, I can do whatever I want." Vaati slowly brought the baton closer to his face, and the blue runes swirling slowly around his wrist and the Wind Waker cast a faint glow on his self-assured grin. "Quite a discover, wouldn't you agree? Our efforts at the Forsaken Fortress were well rewarded," he added with a sneer, "at least for me."

Link took a small step back when Vaati jumped down without warning and flicked him on the forehead.

"Don't worry, pitiful fool, I won't kill you yet. I still have use for you."

Link had had enough. He swatted Vaati away. "Well I never had any use for you! I can get rid of you right now," he lashed out angrily.

Vaati merely tutted with scorn. "You amuse me, hero. You should have done so when you had the chance."

"You think I won't do it now? You think I can't? I  _can_ … I just won't."

"Coward."

It was a ridiculous statement directed to someone who was the chosen for the Triforce of Courage, and it left Link momentarily speechless. Taking Link's hesitation as defeat, Vaati turned his heel with a light huff and waved the Wind Waker, causing the storm clouds to disappear. The sky was clear and blue again with no signs of the black, menacing clouds from earlier.

Link sighed. He was as confused as ever on Vaati's actions. Should he consider him a friend or a foe? He desperately wanted to consider him a friend, but it seemed Vaati was dead set on being otherwise. Sometimes, Link thought the mage was as unsure about the fact as he. Why couldn't they get along, anyway? It wasn't like Link had done anything particularly annoying while they had been together so far. What was there to gain from keeping the rift between them? He didn't get it. It wasn't like he could completely forgive the wind sorcerer for all of his crimes, but at the same time wasn't there a better solution than trying to cut each other's heads off?

Link glanced back at Vaati who was standing alone on the other end of the ship. He had managed to coax a seagull to land on his hand, and he was petting it softly, lost in thought. A white and purple feather with hints of gold was stuck on one of the seagull's wings.

The white was stained the rusty red of dried blood.

Link tilted his head sadly.

Maybe there really was only one road for them to take.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Linebeck had been afraid of the wizzrobe who called himself 'Thistle,' but now he'd gotten used to the monster's presence and was simply annoyed by his antics. Though the wizzrobe didn't present any immediate threat to the captain's safety, Thistle proved to be rather bossy even though he claimed no knowledge whatsoever about seafaring. They were currently heading arbitrarily towards the North because, as it turned out, Thistle had no leads on where to go next. This was probably going to take forever… and unless a miracle happened he was going to have to put up with the wizzrobe's enthusiastic blathering about the islands they passed for months. Maybe years.  _Just my luck._

At first he thought he'd been lucky the wizzrobe was at least conversational, and not interested in immediately killing him like all the other normal wizzrobes, but now he regretted being the monster's new point of interest.

"So once we find the people you're looking for, I can leave, right?" Linebeck made sure for the umpteenth time, calling out from behind the wheel. Thistle was sitting on the rails at the front of the ship, and Linebeck wished a Gyorg shark would jump out of the water and eat him. Thistle waved casually in a way that didn't seem too sincere.

"Sure, sure. Do whatever you like."

"And you're sure you don't have a better idea than wandering around the ocean aimlessly?" Linebeck asked cautiously. Last time he outright refused to drift around the sea looking for two people, who could be  _goddesses ANYWHERE_ , Thistle had summoned a Like Like on the ship. Since then, Linebeck was careful not to encourage a similar experience. The Like Like was regrettably still wandering around the ship, jiggling back and forth, as a constant reminder of what would happen if Linebeck questioned the wizzrobe again.

"Nope! Besides, I'm not in a big hurry. We'll probably run into them eventually, considering they tend to do things that catch a lot of attention."

Linebeck gripped the wheel tightly. "Well I'm in a hurry," he said gruffly. Then, he inched a little farther behind the steering wheel when the Like Like appeared to jiggle closer towards him. He was pretty sure the fat cylindrical monster wouldn't be able to go through the door that led to the steering quarters of his steamship, the S.S. Linebeck, but it still made him nervous when it decided to hang out near him.

"By the way, Captain Linebeck, what are those things that have been following us for the past half hour?" Thistle's voice seemed to call the Like Like back towards the front of the ship, and Linebeck let out a sigh of relief. Then, he cautiously took a look outside the side of the ship where Thistle was pointing. Riding the wake his steamship made, a pack of Gyorg was trailing them.

Maybe they really would jump out of the water and eat Thistle.

"Just a couple of friendly Gyorgs. Sailors consider them to be good luck on voyages," Linebeck lied.

"Look at them jump! They seem excited."

"Yeah, people like dangling their feet by the water when there's Gyorg around because they're so playful."

Thistle turned back towards Linebeck with a friendly, yet at the same time chilling, grin. "I think they can jump high enough to bite you, Captain Linebeck."

Linebeck ducked a little lower behind the steering wheel as though it could protect him from the wizzrobe and flying Gyorgs. He didn't inch too far back, however, as the Like Like was patrolling a little too close for his liking just behind him through the doorframe.

There was a surprised gasp from Thistle. Linebeck called out harshly. "What? _!_  What is it? _!"_ his voice was half scared, half hopeful. Scared that something awful had happened, and hopeful that something awful had happened to that cursed wizzrobe.

"The Gyrogs! They're gone."

The scruffy brown hair of Linebeck poked out from behind the wheel. Two dark-rimmed eyes cautiously followed after. "Gone? Are you sure?"

Thistle was hanging off the edge of the ship excitedly, straining his neck to look for the vicious sharks that had been following them earlier. They had completely vanished. "I wonder if something had spooked them."

"They probably figured you didn't look too tasty," muttered Linebeck.

"But why would friendly Gyorg want to eat me, Captain?" Thistle scratched his head innocently. There was something in his voice, however, that directed the Like Like to press up against the doorframe that kept it separated from Linebeck.

Captain Linebeck was never more thankful of his small captain's quarters: he would never complain about the narrow doorframe ever again.

There was another, awe-filled gasp from Thistle, which made Linebeck roll his eyes irritably. "What is it this time?" he called with some impatience.

"Seagulls! A great many seagulls. Whatever could they possibly be gathering there for?" Thistle pointed at a small white swirl of seagulls hovering above a patch of ocean. The wizzrobe shook his head with puzzlement in his voice. "Why not gather over there instead? Or over there? What makes that part of the sea more interesting than the rest?" He turned with a broad smile towards Linebeck who had grown a few shades paler than before. "Aren't seagulls strange, Captain?"

At the mention of his title, Linebeck snapped out of it and immediately sprung towards the blocked doorway, no longer caring that there was a Like Like that wanted to eat him just outside. "Move it, Likey!" he cried, pushing the jiggling monster out of the way and hurrying over towards the renegade wizzrobe. He fumbled for his telescope, which he dropped into the ocean in his panic. Thistle warped it back towards him and put the device to his eye.

"What am I supposed to be looking at, Captain Linebeck?"

"The water! Look at the water below!" Linebeck stammered, cold sweat rolling down his forehead. He instinctively hid behind the carefree wizzrobe, and he prayed that Thistle wouldn't be able to see what he feared was under the seagulls.

When Thistle didn't say anything for a whole minute, Linebeck asked nervously, "So, do you see anything?"

Thistle looked up, startled. "Yes! Why, was I supposed to let you know? It's pretty fascinating."

"Yes you were, you useless robe!" Linebeck shouted. He snatched the telescope away from Thistle, and pointed at the Like Like that had jiggled its way over to join them. "And tell Likey to stay away from me!"

"I don't think you'll be needing a telescope anymore, Captain Linebeck," Thistle sighed, shaking his head slowly. "I mean, you can see what was under the seagulls right there. Oh! I mean it's just beneath us. That enormous, ominous black shadow that has settled beneath our ship." Thistle pointed absentmindedly at the shadow of the leviathan that was keeping pace with the ship right below them.

"Likey" was the least of Linebeck's worries now. The telescope dropped to his feet where it rolled along the deck, finally meeting its end when the Like Like gobbled it up.

Linebeck knew what was beneath his ship. It was something he had only heard of in sailors' tales, and it was something he had hoped he would never be unlucky enough to encounter. Luck, however, was something he seemed to be lacking these past couple of days.

"The seagulls have gone," Thistle stated calmly as though he were talking of the weather. Beside him, Captain Linebeck was a shivering mess.

"It-it-it's a… it's a…" he gulped, "It's a Big Octo."


	39. The Legendary Big Octo

_Let it be a whale. Let it be a whale. Please let it be a friendly whale_. Linebeck prayed, looking over the edge of his ship at the dark shadow that was swimming below. He grasped onto the hope that it wasn't a species of legendary sea monster that was blamed for the disappearance of many unfortunate ships.

Likey jiggled away from the side of the ship and settled somewhere near the middle, as far away as possible from the water. The ship lurched when it became caught in a powerful current.

"Oooh, a whirlpool! This is my first experience being in one," Thistle observed, leaning over the rail. He got a dose of seawater splashing across his face as large waves smacked against the side of the ship. He giggled to himself, wiping the water away with his sleeves.

 _Okay. This is not a whale._ Linebeck backed up towards where Likey had fled. A huge white tentacle of a squid crashed in the water somewhere behind the ship, sending it further into the enormous whirlpool.  _No, definitely not a whale._

Instincts kicked over and Linebeck made for the ship's wheel hurriedly, tripping over himself a few times in his panic. Likey followed him as fast as a Like Like could go. "This place isn't big enough for you, out,  _out!_ " Linebeck barked at the monster that squeezed itself urgently against the doorframe. The captain tugged on the wheel of the ship, but it was no use: the powerful currents from the whirlpool had jammed the rudder in place. The ship was out of his control.

"Aren't you worried, Captain? You might die out here kehahahaha!" Thistle chortled.

Linebeck was flushed red in the face. "And so will you if you don't do something about it!"

"No, because I can just warp far away to safety."

There was a low roar and water swelled over the side of the ship. The head of a squid as large as a lighthouse emerged. Great yellow eyes covered its head, each one as large as a cannonball. Linebeck's knees were weak, and he wished that he had equipped his ship with a cannon to give them the slightest chance of survival against the sea monster: he'd never bothered because the mechanic always demanded too much money for it…

A Big Octo. It was an extremely rare leviathan of the sea and a nightmare for all sailors, except for those crazy academic types who insisted on approaching these monsters to study them. Either that, or the suicidal treasure hunters, because the Big Octo was also famous for hoarding all the treasure it had stolen from unfortunate ships.

Though he liked treasure, he was definitely not suicidal. Linebeck was not happy about his one-in-a-hundred encounter with a Big Octo.

The ship shook, and Linebeck cowered behind the wheel as a watery roar accompanied it. He clutched to the wheel desperately as though holding onto it for dear life would somehow let his ship escape the whirlpool it was trapped in. He saw a white tentacle as large as a tree thrash across the air, missing the ship by a few dangerous yards. It seemed the Big Octo was going berserk, as he saw frightfully enormous tentacles flailing everywhere accompanied by chaotic waves crashing against all sides of the ship.

To make things worse, Thistle was cackling again.  _Just because he's not in danger of dying he thinks it's funny!_

Linebeck took some comfort in the fact that Likey also seemed distressed by the situation (or maybe it just wanted to eat him before it died, he couldn't tell). The gelatinous monster was still pressing itself up against the doorframe in an attempt to join Captain Linebeck in his "safe" captain's cabin. All of a sudden, Likey looked a whole lot cuter than that dastardly wizzrobe. "Do me a favor and go eat that wizzrobe, will you?" Linebeck grumbled absentmindedly. To his surprise, Likey paused as though to consider the suggestion, and then jiggled away towards Thistle. Linebeck's hopes of the Like Like eating Thistle were dashed, however, when the monster simply sat next to the wizzrobe.

Angry and frustrated at the utter hopelessness of the situation, Linebeck kicked the steering wheel. He uttered a curse when the ship unexpectedly swung to the right in response, and he was thrown against the wall. Puzzled, Linebeck ran after Likey to join the rest of his unusual crew. "Where… where did the Big Octo go?" Linebeck waved his arm at the conspicuous absence of the terrifying monster that had been threatening to sink his ship just a moment ago.

The only sign that the monster had existed was a small circular current left over from the whirlpool they had been caught in, but other than that the waters had returned to their calm lull. Thistle was completely drenched as though someone had dumped a bucket of water of him, and he was in his default state of inquisitive cheerfulness. "I dropped a boulder on top of it."

"A what?"

"A boulder. I summoned it," the wizzrobe repeated matter-of-factly. "It died." The last phrase was stated simply as though it had been no trouble.

Linebeck was momentarily creeped out by the nonchalant, careless way the wizzrobe talked about killing a very frightening sea monster.

"And look what I found."

The captain's sunburned nose quivered when he was finally calm enough to notice a rusty chest in the Summoner Wizzrobe's hands. His treasure hoarding personality kicked in, and he roughly took the chest away from Thistle and pushed him aside. He chipped away some barnacles that were clinging to the chest and snapped open the lid. He whooped when he saw what was inside.

"Nayru bless us!"

The light glittered off of the mound of rupees of all colors that were packed into the chest. Linebeck's hands shook as he fumbled through orange and silver rupees worth hundreds.

"Captain I would like this ship to move." Thistle didn't seem too interested in the money and instead was preoccupied by the fact that the ship wasn't moving anymore.

Linebeck blubbered something incoherent, elbows deep in rupees. His dazed eyes wandered over to Thistle. "Huh?"

Thistle showed no trace of impatience. Instead, he nodded cheerfully to Likey who was obediently jiggling next to Linebeck. At the signal, the Like Like inched just a bit closer to the captain.

Linebeck immediately snapped out of it and jumped a few feet back, the chest tucked safely under the crook of his arm. His eyes glinted with suspicion and mistrust. "Does that thing eat rupees?" he accused, pointing at Likey that was rounding on him. His chest of rupees was very important, and he was sure he would enter a murderous rage if all of it disappeared with the monster's single gulp.

Thistle giggled. "No."

Linebeck relaxed slightly.

"It eats people."

Linebeck was not assuaged.

"It knows not to eat you as long as you're doing your job, Captain."

Linebeck knew a threat when he heard one. Sulking now, the captain grumbled and stomped over to the wheel. Halfway there, he stopped. His mouth hung open in an "O" and he stared blankly at the rupee heavy chest under his arm. Whirling around, Linebeck pushed past the Like Like and poked Thistle roughly in the chest. "I have a great idea."

Thistle looked at him unblinkingly. "I like great ideas. If they really are great ideas."

Linebeck's mustache quivered with excitement and greed. "We're going to look for Big Octos."

"But I'm only interested in finding the people I'm looking for."

"You can buy anything with money, including information" Linebeck spoke quickly, "and we'll be filthy rich by defeating Big Octos. I earn money, and you'll earn noth – I mean you'll find your friends along the way."

Thistle shrugged and mumbled a half-hearted okay, mentioning something about money buying information. Elated, Linebeck strutted back to the wheel with a bounce to his step, humming a tune. He was going to be the richest man on the sea, and he wasn't even going to have to work hard for it! He placed the chest beneath a safe compartment in the captain's cabin and took a moment to smile at it happily. His luck was turning around!

Maybe being stuck with the wizzrobe wasn't so bad after all. If only he'd get rid of that Like Like.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Vaati, Link, and pirates arrived at the port of Windfall Island in the afternoon. The pirates insisted that they get a day of rest before they dispersed in town to gather information, but Vaati refused to wait. The sorcerer had been restless the entire trip back to the island, and he wanted results. At the same time, he didn't seem to have much faith in the pirates' ability to find what they wanted to know, so he didn't nag them for too long. Instead, the sorcerer dragged Link with him to town to begin looking for clues on the whereabouts of Hyrule or Ganondorf.

Link was assigned to make himself look likeable and ask random strangers if they'd noticed anything out of the ordinary recently.

"Excuse me sir, have you noticed anything strange these past few days?"

"Yeah you. Now scat."

"Excuse me sir –"

"Aren't kiddies supposed to be in bed by now?"

"Excuse –"

"I'm busy, shrimp."

"Ex –"

"Hahaha! I'll let you pick barnacles off me ship, boy!"

The sailors weren't very nice.

"This isn't going to work," Link reported dejectedly after his last attempt to gather any scrap of information. He was reminded how inconvenient being a kid could be, unlike in the last era when he'd appeared a little older. Vaati wasn't really listening, as he was busy running his eyes across the town bulletin board. The sorcerer dragged his finger down a list of notices and finally tapped one of them.

He tilted his head with a satisfied air. "This one. We'll try this one."

Link craned his neck over Vaati's shoulders to get a better view of the notice. It was an advertisement for the auction that was going to take place that night.

Vaati continued, "Look here. They're auctioning a map of a 'hidden city once ruled by the people of gods.' Don't you think that sounds familiar?"

Link's features twisted into one of incredulity. "You think that's Hyrule?"

"I suppose you have a better idea?" Vaati asked somewhat stiffly.

"It could mean anything."

"Of course it can. We may gain nothing of it: I'm well aware of that," Vaati hissed.

Link cringed. He was still uneasy about this new Vaati who could legitimately be dangerous. "Um… I'll go get some rupees from Nudge then."

Vaati turned back towards the pirate ship, whisking his cape over his shoulder. "Get them if you want, but I don't intend to use them," he shrugged, "Tell the others I want to meet them at the auction house at sundown."

Link blinked, standing where he was as Vaati went off by himself. Vaati walked haughtily towards the port, causing a few frightened pigs to scamper out of his way.  _Here we go again._


	40. Auction Night

They arrived an hour into the auction, as Vaati was sure the map would be one of the last items to be presented. They had visited the venue earlier in the day, and the sign outside the door noted that auctions began at dusk and ran all the way to 6AM the next morning. At first Link had balked at the length of the auction, but Vaati had shrugged him away, assuring him that there was no way the auction would run that long: it was just a way the advertisers were overblowing the event.

Vaati, Link, and the pirates gathered around the mahogany red door of the auction house for one last overview of their plan. Link, who had been left out of the initial planning, wondered hopefully if someone would tell him what they were planning to do but was disappointed when Vaati only went over positioning.

"Gonzo, Nudge, Senza, stand on either side of me and Link," he ordered the two most imposing pirates, "Mako, Zuko, you're going to make sure no one leaves until I leave."

Link sighed. They were making such a huge deal out of a map that may or may not end up being useful. He hoped Vaati wasn't going to hurt anybody, but considering the fact that the mage had very adamantly told Link to stay out of his business, he suspected that whatever Vaati had planned to do was something Link wasn't going to like. At the very least, Vaati had allowed him to accompany him to the auction, but Link had a nagging feeling that this was only because he was also another pawn in Vaati's devious scheme. As the group strode inside the mansion with Vaati taking the lead, Link began to wish Niko were also with them. The buck-toothed pirate was just about the only pirate who didn't appear to be completely whipped down to unquestioning obedience by Vaati's tyrannical hold on the ship, and sided with Link instead.

Link frowned to himself, noting his thoughts. Okay, so he admitted that "tyrannical" was a bit of an exaggeration: in fact, Vaati was quite civil with the pirates and most of them followed him peacefully and with respect. He couldn't help it though, could he, if for the last few days he'd had an increasing feeling that he was on board an enemy ship? Maybe he was just paranoid, but ever since the events at the Forsaken Fortress, he'd had the feeling that Vaati was seriously antagonistic to him, and it wasn't something he could discount as irrelevant anymore. Vaati no longer had to rely on Link for fending off monsters or exercising power: he had the Wind Waker, and he even had followers. And now that Vaati didn't exactly need Link, he was being left out of key plans. It left him regarding Vaati and  _his_  pirate crew a bit grudgingly.

The auction had already started, and the group quietly moved through the people to find someplace to sit. There was a small group of people standing by the stage, showing interest in the current item up for bidding, while others were sitting farther back, waiting for something better to come along. There weren't too many people attending, and Link thanked the goddesses for it. Less people standing now meant less people lying on the floor later if Vaati was planning to use violence.

The venue itself was very extravagant: there was a glorious crystal chandelier sparkling magnificently from the middle of the hall, and two curving white staircases wound up to the second floor. Expensive vases with the perfect gleam lined the walls just by the entrance, and a red velvet carpet led right up to the stage that was lit up at the far end of the hall. Vaati strode through with his head held high, clearly comfortable with the setting.

A curious man wearing an Eskimo suit was standing on the stage announcing an item on auction. It was for a cheap looking pendant in the shape of a butterfly. The man shot a finger towards a spritely lady who had raised her hand, citing a figure.

"Four hundred and fifty eight rupees! Four hundred and fifty eight rupees for the Joy Pendant! Can anyone raise the figure? No? Going once, going twice, SOLD!" the man boomed.

Link wrinkled his nose. "That much money on a trinket like  _that?_ " he whispered to Vaati who was sitting next to him, smirking. The pendant with obnoxious colors seemed to be worth more like ten rupees.

"It's an action. The prices can get pretty steep," Vaati stated simply.

The blond rested his chin on his hands and incredulously watched the lady pick up her prize. "I think I know why you said you didn't plan on using any rupees tonight."

Vaati snorted. "I don't see why you're so worried about stealing. You had no problems with it when you took the potions from that parrot by the Forest Temple."

"It's not the stealing I'm worried about."

For the next hour they waited for the map in question to come up for bidding. Link watched with interest as some of the town's richest citizens bid incredible prices for more trinkets and jewelry. Vaati yawned as a heart container was placed on auction, while Link squirmed in his seat with the urge to bid for it. The current price for the heart container was at one hundred and sixty rupees.

Vaati grumbled under his breath. "This is dreadfully boring." He raised his hand, ignoring Link who's jaw had dropped.

"Aha! The gentleman with the dashing purple hat. What is your bid?"

"Seven hundred rupees."

A shush fell through the crowd. There were a couple of murmurs as the auctioneer's voice boomed in the hall. "Seven hundred rupees! Seven hundred rupees for the heart container! The gentleman has a hard price to beat; is anyone willing to pay more?"

"Vaati, what are you doing?" Link whispered in shock.

"Going once!"

"We don't have any money!" the boy continued. The mage said nothing.

"Going twice!"

Link breathed in relief when a burly middle-aged man in a refined coat raised his hand. Vaati grinned.

"See? A figure like that is nothing for these people, Link. I can have all of these fools spending more money than they should. Humans, they're all the same." He snapped his fingers softly. "With just a little power I can have them dance the way I want. Just. Like. That." His eyes slid to the side, snakelike. "Why don't you give it a try?"

Link turned away, visibly upset. He disregarded Vaati's comment and shifted slightly away from him. He definitely didn't like how Vaati was acting recently. Not that he'd ever liked the way Vaati acted, but it was getting noticeably worse.

Several hours later and the map still hadn't made its appearance; the advertisement had spoken true when it had claimed the auction was going to go on all night. The hero felt himself getting drowsy and was fighting to keep his eyes open. He stole a quick look towards the wind mage next to him, wondering how the sorcerer, even though he did look bored to death, managed to stay alert and focused the entire time. Vaati's obsessive determination was incredible, to say the least: he must have been like this during his Hyrule domination campaigns.

It was getting late, and Link was asleep when he felt something shaking his shoulders. "Wake up, boy. It's the map!"

Groggily, Link rubbed his eyes and adjusted his focus to the auction stage. Most of the people were standing by the front of the stage, and he felt Vaati roughly pull him towards the front without waiting for him to fully wake up. Half stumbling, he was dragged forward. During this time, he noticed that the rest of the pirate crew had dispersed to various corners of the hall: something suspicious was going on, and Link wasn't sure he wanted to find out what it was.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! This final item will have you all out of your seats, out of your house, and out into the ocean! This," the auctioneer held a worn parchment, brown with age, into the air, "is the map to reach the fabled hidden city! The legendary civilization that disappeared into the watery depths thousands of years ago. Who knows what treasures can be salvaged from its ruins? This map is perfect to satiate your adventuring needs. Let the bids begin!"

Still a little woozy from having just been woken up, Link immediately raised his hand reflexively. They had come for the map, they wanted the map, he had no idea how the three goddesses they were going to afford the map, but raising his hand seemed like a step in the right direction.

Vaati raised an eyebrow before he shrugged. "Don't bid too high," he warned as someone offered two hundred and twenty rupees, "it won't be fun if our auction ends with your first bid."

Link was picked next. "Two hundred and forty rupees!" He heard a groan from his right and he saw Vaati putting a hand to his head. Link became worried. "Did I bid too high?"

"No, you fool, you bid way too low. We're playing with imaginary money, boy, be more liberal. I'll handle this."

"But you just said – "

The auctioneer's voice boomed again. "The lovely young lady in the blue evening dress! Name a figure please!"

Vaati and Link stopped talking and turned their heads to a young socialite. Her blond hair was in a neat bun, and she snapped her feathered fan sharply as she sent a fierce glance towards the two before announcing a number. "Four hundred rupees."

The corners of Vaati's mouth slowly lifted into a smirk. He lifted his chin slightly. "That's the kind of number you go for: not so low that you look like you're scratching the bottom of your purse, but not so high that you look like you're bluffing." Vaati gave one small nod to the lady to acknowledge her. "She wants a challenge. Let's humor her," he said with a grin.

Vaati raised his hand. "Five hundred and fifty rupees."

The corner of the woman's mouth twitched and she appeared surprised. Who were these two short… children (was that even the right word? The purple one held himself in a way that appeared too mature for him to be a child) that were offering so many rupees? They must be travelers, because she would have known the upper class on Windfall Island; but did they actually have that much money? They must be running close to their limits… but the red-eyed one was wearing a hat with an enormous jewel set in the middle. Perhaps they really did have money?

"Six hundred rupees."

"Six hundred and eighty rupees."

The socialite shot another annoyed look, which was simply returned by a smirk. The price was rising high enough and yet the one in purple insisted on raising the bids. Vaati gave a sly wink. The young lady's lower lip trembled. "Seven hundred rupees."

The crowd, who had appeared vaguely bored and tired from the long-running auction, was interested now. Nearly all heads were turned to Vaati as they waited expectantly for him to name another figure. Even the auctioneer, who was used to stopping the auction after it had passed three minutes, waited, eager for the possibility of earning more money.

"Seven fifty."

"Seven seventy!"

"Eight hundred."

"Eight… eight hundred and ten!"

"Eight hundred and eleven."

By this point the woman looked flustered and Link wouldn't have been surprised if she screamed or cried or did both. Link sighed and whispered to Vaati. "I think you should finish this up now."

The mage's lips flattened into an expression that suggested he was irritated by the interruption. He eventually shook his head with a small huff. "Very well. I'll let the dear lady know she doesn't stand a chance if she bids again. It's curious she even bid this high for a map."

"Look who's talking," Link grumbled under his breath so the mage couldn't hear.

"Eight… eight… eight hundred… Wait! I bid Nine hundred!" The woman's face flushed red as she spoke the figure with finality. The crowd relaxed and began to clap, sure that the pale bidder wouldn't be able to beat the number. The woman smiled at Vaati triumphantly.

The sorcerer grinned back and clapped along with the crowd. As soon as the crowd became quiet, he raised his hand again, interrupting the auctioneer who had been ready to announce the end of the bid. Both the auctioneer and the woman nearly stumbled over themselves while Vaati waited patiently. "Y-yes? Gentleman in the purple?"

"One thousand rupees."

A dead quiet fell over the crowd, and Link momentarily thought that everyone in the crowd had fainted. He imagined he heard Gonzo stifling a laugh nearby.

"One… one thousand rup-rup-rupees?" The auctioneer was having trouble finding his voice.

Vaati barely gave the auctioneer a glance as he played with a strand of his hair. "Was I not clear enough? One. Thousand. Rupees," he iterated with slow deliberation as though he were talking to someone with low mental capabilities. He casually looked around the audience, and then rested his eyes on the woman who had been willing to pay nine hundred. "I believe no one will challenge my bid?" he kept his eyes pinned on the woman almost threateningly, "Auctioneer, the map is mine, is it not?"

The young lady who had been challenging Vaati up until this point remained frozen on the spot. She had been taken completely by surprise, and it seemed like she was trying to make sense of what had happened. Meanwhile, the auctioneer's voice rose up as a feeble croak. "Um. Is anyone going to challenge this gentleman? Going once… going twice…" the man's mustache quivered, thunderstruck by the amount his bidder was willing to pay for the map, "sold," he squeaked.

The crowd roared in applause and Vaati soaked it in for a moment. He lived for moments like this when people looked up at him in awe. He took a few seconds appreciating the moment, and then signaled the pirates to take positions. He also shooed Link to wait just outside the door, and when the blond protested he gave one, severe look that would have made even the most terrifying monster a run for it. Link made a frustrated face before he obliged and made his way to the door.

Once Link was out of the way, Vaati moved off regally towards the prize, but not before taking a detour by the young woman who was smiling despite her defeat. There was a few seconds his eyes travelled from her face to her body like a leopard examining its prey before a hunt. Then, he immediately switched into the perfect image of a reliable gentleman with the softest heart in the world. It was a talent he'd discovered he'd had a little while after he started kidnapping anything young with boobs, and he figured it might have had something to do with remnants of Minish charisma: if he set his mind to it, he could make people, especially women, think he was pleasant and unthreatening. For instance, just now, that woman looked like she had forgotten about his predatory look moments before. The way he could just influence people like that… oh how he loved it.

"Well done, I did not think you'd force me to offer that much for something so little as an old map," he said with a slightly breathless voice, and he took the opportunity to take her hand and bow his head. He resisted the urge to break out into a toothy, shark-like grin when he noticed her turning beet red, and instead kept his expression in one of calculated warmth.

The young lady turned away, blushing. "I don't know why I was so determined to get it. Perhaps it was because I've always felt a… a… sort of attraction for adventure," she stuttered as Vaati kissed her hand softly.

The mage flashed a grin, and when he saw that Link hadn't gone outside like he was supposed to and was watching the whole thing in shock and disgust at the fakeness of it all, Vaati grinned even wider. "Now, my dear lady. Adventuring is not as romantic as it sounds. If you insist on going on a trip, however, I may be able to get a hold of another map as exciting as this one to give you." He leaned forward and whispered, and making sure he had her completely hooked he pounced, "But it's dangerous to go alone, you know."

He left it like that: vague, yet completely loaded with intent. He pulled back and chuckled as she stared blankly after him in shock, and he chuckled even more as Link made a face and stomped out of the auction house in disgust.  _Link, didn't you know? The villains get all the girls,_  Vaati mentally hummed a tune to himself.

"My good sir! I present to you the map that leads to the lost city. Now, if you would give me the one thousand rupees," the auctioneer announced with a beaming smile as the mage approached.

Vaati, who had been smiling moments before, quickly turned serious and said severely, "I think not. I would give you the one thousand if you would give me the map." He raised a finger, stopping the man mid-protest. "I am offering a price that is hardly reasonable for a simple map such as the one you are holding. I'm sure you're well aware I could have bought something similar for half the price. You would understand if I say I would like to be careful with a sum as large as the one I'm going to pay." His eyes gleamed in the darkness, and the auctioneer gulped. The mustached man had half a mind to retort that it was the bidder himself who had raised the prices so high, but a small voice at the back of his head insisted there was something a little off about the bidder. Like, he was not quite there in the head…

"Yes yes yes, of course, my good master! If you would pay the sum after I hand this to you," the auctioneer wrung his hands together in nervous agitation as Vaati took the map and put it under the crook of his arm. He broke out sweating when the sorcerer pivoted away and began to walk down the steps off the stage.

In a fit of courage, the auctioneer managed to raise his voice. "W-wait! You didn't pay!"

Vaati didn't stop, and he waved a hand dismissively without even turning around. "I will deposit the money later. Good night." He bumped into the three largest pirates, Gonzo, Nudge, and Senza, who blocked his path as he had instructed them to. His eyes narrowed when Gonzo appeared like he was too rattled to follow his script. Gonzo managed to pull through when he realized there was a possibility of being murdered by the captain if he failed his part.

The pirate puffed out his chest bravely and poked Vaati in the chest. "Whoa there little buddy. Where do you think you're going? You've got to pay, yeah?" Gonzo inwardly flinched when he saw the mage glare at him from the dim light of the auction house, and slightly regretted adding 'little buddy.' Even though he was acting as the though, no-nonsense pirate that Vaati had instructed him to be, it was still incredibly unnerving to remain calm under the sorcerer's positively evil expression.

"It will do you good if you move out of the way," the sorcerer snarled. At this point, Gonzo was trying his hardest not to run away.

"You'll be hurting if you don't follow the rules of the auction, brat," Gonzo retorted weakly, the last few words of his sentence coming out in a mumbled jumble. The captain's glaring was scaring him; Vaati's act was too convincing.

Meanwhile, Mako and Zuko stood around the group to keep the rest of the crowd from closing in on them too much. Vaati took the time to see everything was ready, and then he flung out his hands like he had performed a spell, and he allowed the binding runes around his wrists to shimmer for the full effect. The three pirates staggered back and fell down, pretending an invisible force hit them. There was an exclamation of surprise and awe from the crowd, and made way for the mage. If the three muscular men could be felled without the short one touching them, he was obviously not someone they could stop.

Vaati left the hall with his laughter ringing around the walls.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Outside, Link rubbed his hands together to keep them warm from the cool night air and sulked a little at how he was the only one besides Niko who was left out of Vaati's plan. Now that Vaati had the Wind Waker and control of the pirate crew, he was completely in control of everything. Anything Link tried to say would be overturned with a short nod from the captain and the crew would just out-vote him. Before, it had been Vaati who had been tagging along. Now it seemed like the situation had flipped itself. The fact that Vaati seemed to be treating him much coldly these past few days didn't help in letting Link come to terms with this situation.

He'd actually started wondering if he shouldn't have left Vaati to die at the Temple of Time. It was a terrible, irrational thought to have, and he felt guilty about it, but at times the thoughts wouldn't leave him alone. Day by passing day it was becoming all too easy to see Vaati for what he really was: that one-eyed demon who had caused no end of misery for Hyrule. Link wanted to shake these horrible thoughts away because he had really come to believe, brief though it was, that Vaati wasn't all that bad. Back at the City in the Sky he remembered thinking about how it was possible that there was just some huge misunderstanding between Vaati and everyone else… that the relationship could be fixed somehow…

Vaati never told him what the Helmaroc King had said to him, but ever since the bird's death it was as though Vaati  _wanted_  to separate himself from Link.

The door to the auction house suddenly swung open, and none other than the sorcerer in question was standing there imposingly. A chaotic clamor of voices could be heard from inside, and Link noticed Vaati was clutching a map tightly in his hands. He saw Link looking at him a few feet away, and he started forward before the blond could say anything.

"Okay Link. Look dazed," Vaati instructed. He didn't appear fazed at all by how panic was rising from inside the auction house.

"What?" Link peered over Vaati's shoulder with concern, trying to discern what had happened in there. The door opened a crack when someone leaned against it, but Vaati slammed it shut.

"It shouldn't be too hard for you. Come on, boy, show me that idiotic look you always have on your face."

"What?" Link really wanted to make sure Vaati hadn't hurt anybody.

"Almost there, but not quite. This might help."

Link was knocked off his feet as Vaati sent a powerful gale towards him. Link's hat was sent flying, and his cheek grazed the stone pavement. Vaati gave a satisfied nod before he ran off to the ship. "Stay there, Link, and remember to look confused."

"… What? What?"

The door to the auction hall exploded as Gonzo, Nudge, Senza, Mako, and Zuko came dashing out with the auctioneer and the crowd following quickly behind on their heels. The crowd stopped as they saw Link on the ground, looking up at them with utter confusion. The hero had dirt on his face and his disheveled hair was exposed to the air. Mako was the first to step up.

"Link! What happened to you? Did you try to stop the thief?" the pirate with glasses made a small signal with his hand to let Link know not to say anything. Link, not knowing what was going on at all, decided to play along.

"Why, you look like you've taken a beating! Ladies and Gentlemen," Mako patted him on the shoulder as a "got it? Good," and then turned to the curious crowd dramatically, "this is the adventurer who has conquered the Great Sea. If our thief had been able to defeat him, then surely we stand no chance in stopping him. We must be glad no one was severely injured."

It didn't take long for the crowd to murmur in agreement. None of them really had problems with the thief because he hadn't taken any of  _their_  belongings. Besides, this was going to be great dinnertime gossip. The only person who appeared irked was the auctioneer. The woman in the evening dress surprisingly appeared more fascinated than upset.

Zuko fetched Link's hat while Gonzo took him by the arms. "We'll be on the lookout for the thief, but if any of you do find him, don't confront him, yeah? He's dangerous."

With that, the pirates hurried off to their ship leaving behind a stunned crowd.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Not bad, everyone. Though I might want to have a talk with you later, Gonzo."

"But Captain! I was just following orders!"

"Mmhmm."

"You remember, yeah? You told me specifically to stop you all arrogant like."

"Hm. You are all dismissed. We will see what the map has to show us tomorrow."

Gonzo opened his mouth and then closed it like a gasping fish. When he realized Vaati wasn't going to acknowledge him further, he dejectedly followed the rest of the pirates to their quarters. The sorcerer twirled the Wind Waker around his fingers.

"Well, Link? Do you have a problem?" he asked the boy who hasn't left the captain's quarters and was still standing by the door with his arms crossed.

Link did have a lot to say about Vaati's attitude recently, but he just left it with, "You're having too much fun with this, don't you think?"

"And I'm not allowed to have fun? You're such a killjoy, aren't you," Vaati continued to play with the Wind Waker, occasionally summoning a tiny tornado about the size of his thumb across the table.

"I mean, what was up with you and the woman in the blue dress? And also –"

Vaati burst out laughing, interrupting Link on his other list of complaints. "Oh that. She was pretty, wasn't she?"

Link scowled, thinking back on Vaati being known for kidnapping women. "So, do you have a number for her? Hobby number seventy two?"

"Interesting you put it like that," the sorcerer mused. Then, his expression turned serious, "But don't be ridiculous. She was just another safeguard so we can return to this island again without having angry hoards following us."

"How?" Link asked, unconvinced.

"Did you bother noting her reactions? I don't mean to be so conceited, but I completely fascinated her," Vaati looked at Link who had his nose scrunched up in disgust. The mage waved him away disinterestedly, "Hm. You wouldn't understand it yet. No matter, she would be so engrossed in me that she probably wouldn't hesitate to help us out of jail if we are ever stupid enough to land there. I doubt we would ever require her services, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared."

Vaati was in a good mood; he sounded almost cheerful, even though that undertone of danger was always ever so present at the edge of his voice. "Brighten up, boy. I even got the entire crew to be the heroes of the town."

Link disapproved, but he had to admit they had done well. They had retrieved the map for free and they (with the exception of Vaati) were considered good citizens. Not bad. At the same time, he was still annoyed he had been left out of the loop of the entire plan.

For a few seconds it seemed like Link wanted to say something more, but after a while, Link left it with a tired and frustrated sigh and walked out of the room for some fresh air. Once Link had left, Vaati finally looked up from the row of miniature tornadoes that he had spawned on the surface of the table and tapped the edge of his chin with the Wind Waker. He was pretty aware of what was going on: Link knew the sorcerer was regaining some of his influence, and the hero didn't like that. Even better, at this rate Vaati would have an additional edge of holding emotional control as well – through some idiotic circumstance, Link was trying to convince himself that the mage wasn't bad. Vaati had almost gotten caught up in Link's naïve idea of friendship, but now he was completely free from it. Link would have trouble landing the finishing blow in a fight but he, Vaati, would not. Vaati would win in a duel, hands down, even if Link could miraculously obtain the Four Swords again.

Even though his full potential was far from back, Vaati enjoyed the power that had returned to him with the little silver baton, the Helmaroc King's words, and the freedom to embrace corruption.

He hadn't felt so free since this whole ordeal had begun.

Vaati, the Sorcerer of Winds, would be back someday in full power. Where he hadn't been sure earlier, he was definitely sure now.


	41. Rupees are Everything

"Welcome to the monster ship  
We have all sorts of kinds!  
We're hunting for Big Octos  
With rupees on our minds!  
I'm sailing with some dangerous folk  
Hey captain, how will you fare?  
It's great because I have a bottle of rum  
And I'm too drunk to care! So sing with me –"

Linebeck's singing, which was just a little too happy to be considered sober, rang out from behind the wheel of the white steamship. Whatever bottles that hadn't been gulped up by the Like Like rolled around on the deck, and the ship had become livelier with more monsters. Linebeck wasn't really sure since when the ship had also become home to a skeletal Blue Bubble and its twin Red Bubble, but by the time a Seahat had also begun following the ship the captain had decided to take out the bottles of hard liquor so his panic-stricken brain could stop caring. The Redead that was standing stiffly in exactly the center point of the ship was a little creepy, but with another hearty swig he couldn't give half a flying zombie flip about it, whatever the three goddesses that meant.

"Seagulls, ya scrub. We have to find seagulls and find more seagulls," he poked his finger at 'Blubble' the Blue Bubble idly clattering by, "because seagulls have money! I think… oh wait, no! We have to find seagulls to find Big Octos to find money! Hey, birdie," he whirled towards the wizzrobe and steadied himself against the wheel.

Thistle was at the front of the ship, leaning against the stern with Linebeck's telescope in his hand. He absentmindedly hummed along to Linebeck's warbled singing. He turned his head slightly when the captain called him. "Hm?"

"You see any seagulls?" The captain asked loudly, lurching unsteadily and nearly burning his waving hand by the skull creature engulfed in red flame, 'Rubble' the Red Bubble, hovering nearby.

"Nope."

"Can't you just like, summon them here with a wave of your hand or something? Those squid things?"

There was a long pause. The Redead in the middle gurgled something incomprehensible in the meanwhile.

"I'm talking to you, birdie," Linebeck persisted, emboldened with liquor.

"Nope," Thistle repeated.

"Liar! The last four you summoned them with your glitter magic! I was watching!"

Thistle shrugged, giggling. "And see how rich we are now," he laughed as he waved his hand towards the heavy treasure chests sitting neatly next to Linebeck.

Linebeck, however, wasn't about to be distracted and he continued on defiantly even though Likey had wiggled dangerously close. "I'm sick of looking for seagulls! Summon more, you Summoner Wizzrobe!"

Appearing unfazed by the captain's increasingly bossy attitude, Thistle beamed a smile. "I'm afraid I can't. It seems there aren't any more Big Octos in this part of the sea, because I had summoned all of them already. We'll have to move somewhere else to find more." On the surface the smile seemed warm enough, but a bad vibe surrounded the wizzrobe.

"What? You can't? Caaaaann't? And you call yourself a Summoner?" Linebeck spat, and threw the empty bottle in his hand into the sea. "Useless robe."

Thistle's smile cracked. With a soft snicker, he jumped down from the stern and walked over to the Redead that was still statue-like in the middle of the ship. Still smiling a little crookedly, Thistle peeked over the monster's shoulders. "Captain," he called.

"Eh?"

The snap of the wizzrobe's fingers sliced through the air, clear as a crystal bell. Immediately afterward, a shriek that could only have hatched from the deepest, darkest recesses of the underworld hit the unsuspecting captain with the force of a small explosion. The color instantly drained from Linebeck's sunburned face and his knees wavered, shaking severely from the Redead's soul-shattering scream. With a few wobbled steps backwards, Linebeck staggered straight into Likey's gaping mouth where he finally regained energy to shout in panic.

Thistle tilted his head with the good-natured grin plastered onto his colorful beak as he watched Linebeck's hand wave hysterically, sticky with drool. "Hmph," he huffed. He moved back to the stern, deciding to leave the captain to sober up with the help of the terrifying Likey.

Even if the captain demanded it, it was impossible to summon more Big Octos near this area of the sea. He had summoned every one in the southeastern waters. They were rare creatures, after all.

Unbeknownst to the little monster ship, their actions had stroked the ire of a terrible monster. The giant stirred along the ocean bottom, angered by the loss of its Big Octo brethren. Even the fierce, shark-like gyorg swam out of the way as the monster stretched out its long tentacles.

It would make those responsible pay with every fiber of its wrath.

XXXXXXXXXXX

A murmur of voices. The ship's gentle swaying. Seagulls. Footsteps. Wait.  _Footsteps?_

Niko shot out of his bed, whacked his head on the bunk above him, and rubbed the welt that was forming as he shook himself out of sleep.  _Argh, I overslept._

He looked around and saw to his dismay that everyone was already up; even Gonzo, who was a heavy sleeper. The little pirate frowned and he timidly made his way to the door that led outside. He took a deep breath.  _Okay Niko, just go out cool and casual and hope evil, purple, vertically challenged Captain doesn't notice. Cool and casual. Cool and casual._

He repeated these words when he opened the door and walked out with an overly self-conscious gait that made him more conspicuous. His eyes darted from side to side to see if anyone had realized that he had slept in.

No one noticed, or they didn't seem to care. The captain was looking out to sea with a rolled up map clenched tightly in his hands, and the crew were minding their own business. Niko relaxed and exhaled as he saw that he was going to get away with oversleeping. He took everyone's eerie silence as the result of another night at the bar.

The pirate smiled and gave his cheeriest laugh. "Morning everyo –  _mmmmffff!"_

"Shhhh!" Link clapped a hand over Niko's mouth. Link stole a glance towards Vaati to see if there was any reaction before he quickly pulled the startled pirate indoors and closed the door shut.

"What was that for, swabbie?" Niko gasped once they were inside. He swatted Link's hand away that had been covering his mouth.

Link continued to check the door as though expecting Vaati to blow down the door any minute now. "He's upset. Very, very upset."

"You mean evil, purple, vertically challenged Captain?"

Link flinched, and then slowly dared to breathe when Vaati didn't show up. Niko's runaway mouth was going to get him killed someday. Relaxing slightly now that he was beginning to see that the sorcerer probably wasn't going to come barging in where they had gone to hide, Link explained to Niko, "Yeah. We managed to get a map last night… but there was a slight problem."

Niko scratched his head. "A map? Of what?"

"We think it'll lead us to Hyrule."

The little pirate perked up. "We're going to Hyrule?  _The_  Hyrule?  _The_  great kingdom from storybook legends?"

Link nodded, and began hesitantly. "Yeees, but here's the trouble; no one can read the map."

"Well that sucks," Niko's eyes drooped downwards in disappointment.

"It more than sucks. Did you notice how everyone kept at least a ten-foot radius of empty space around the captain?"

Niko paused. Ah. So that was why everyone was oddly trying to stay out of each other's way.

"Provoke him now and you'd be lucky to get away in one piece," Link finished, moving his finger across his neck in a slitting motion.

Niko tried to remain optimistic. "If I lose an eye, I'll just wear one of those eye patches  _real_  pirates wear."

The other boy wasn't too thrilled. "Just… try not to provoke the captain. If you want an eye patch you can still wear one without getting your eye poked out."

Suddenly, they heard a slam and a light draft swept the fringes of their clothes. Link would've sworn the temperature had gone down a few degrees the moment Vaati appeared in the doorway with a chilling stare.  _Speak of the devil._

"Um, morning captain," Niko squeaked. He hid behind Link, as the hero was the only person who could kind of stand up to Vaati and barely get away with it.

"Good morning," the mage didn't sound happy, "being lazy on my ship, are we?"

Link stepped up to explain. "Vaati, I was just explaining to Niko about the map."

Vaati sneered. "Then you know why we haven't set sail yet. I'm going to make you do something useful for once, pirate," he said the words disdainfully.

Niko couldn't move his eyes away from the glaring red orbs that had pinned him in place. "Th-thank you captain."

"Go and find a way to make the map understandable. If you succeed, I will forgive you for oversleeping."

Niko froze up momentarily.  _Darn it! So he had noticed._  "I'll try, captain," he replied meekly.

Vaat's smile was sickeningly fake. "I know you'll try  _very_  hard. What with your enthusiasm I'm sure you'll succeed," he added, his tone suggesting failure would have dire consequences. The mage's cape whirled around as he turned back and went out the door. Niko stood shaking slightly and biting his nails.

Link was still tense even though the danger had passed. "Sorry I couldn't help you out there, Niko. Vaati had that creepy look again and I wasn't sure if my butting in would have made it better or worse for you."

"Swabbie, I think the captain is insane. You can't stop a madman."

"I…" Just for a moment, Link looked like he was going to claim that Niko was wrong, that he just didn't understand the situation. Those words never came. His mouth locked shut, and it refused to mention anything that would defend Vaati.

Link wasn't a liar. He'd never really been good at it, because his lips always betrayed him whenever he'd tried. They would jumble the words, freeze up, or make him hesitate for far too long. They would also end up blurting the truth instead.

"I… I know," Link dropped the words, heavy and leaden. "I suppose I've always known." But he didn't want to know! He wanted to believe that behind that dark sneer was… was a person. A friend, maybe. Sometimes, he could think back on the things they'd gone through, the often-stupid squabbles they'd had like the argument over weapons at Telma's bar, and the harrowing situations they'd overcome, and honestly smile at the memories. Link's troubling thoughts were interrupted by an equally troubled sigh from Niko, who was shuffling his feet agitatedly.

"Link, what am I going to do?"

 _I ask that all the time these days_ , Link thought. Instead, he shook his head and gave the pirate a reassuring pat on the back. "I can try to see if I can talk Vaati into going easy on you. You should get a head start and try to do something about the map in the meanwhile." He caught Niko's eyes on him in surprise. "It's all right. I don't think he can hurt me."

_I don't think…_

"Thanks," the little pirate mumbled appreciatively. The two boys, both miserable with their own problems, quietly walked out the door.

XXXXXXXXXX

Later, the hero found himself in the ocean, drenched and coughing from the distinctly sharp taste of saltwater; trying to reason with Vaati had not gone well.

 _The jerk,_ Link thought as he swam to shore. As soon as he had mentioned "Niko" and "map" to Vaati, the mage had sent a whirlwind that had flung him off the side of the ship.

 _If you're so worried about the buck-toothed fool, go help him,_  the irate sorcerer had shot just before Link had helplessly plunged into the water.

Still drenched and his hat sitting heavily on his head from having soaked up too much water, Link went off to search for Niko to see how he was doing in finding someone who could help them read the map. He was a little disappointed when he found the pirate sitting on the docks and feeding the fish. It appeared that Niko had either given up completely or was slacking off.

"Hey Niko? Vaati sent me over to help you," Link walked over to the pirate who continued to throw bait.

Niko watched the fish dart around the surface, and then threw some more when the small red balls disappeared with a few small splashes. "He threw you off the ship, didn't he swabbie." The question came out as a statement.

"He did."

"That means you couldn't talk him out of it."

"And that's exactly why we should try to do something about the map," Link urged, trying to get Niko to stand up and start doing something other than feed the fish. Niko didn't budge.

"I talked to everybody in town, swabbie! EVERYBODY. I know people here so when I say everybody I mean EVERYBODY. I even talked to the old ladies," this time, the pirate chucked a piece of bait as far as he could. The fish momentarily scattered in fright as Niko's arms practically chucked the bait balls like he was trying to hurt something. "No one knows a thing about reading weird maps."

"Did you try the person who runs the auction house? He was the one who had it," Link tried to be helpful.

"You mean Sir Eskimo? Zunari probably put it for sale because he couldn't read it himself," the pirate snorted. Then, he added dejectedly, "and yeah, I talked to him." Niko stood up as he ran out of bait, causing the fish to dart away. He brushed off the crumbs off of his fingers and smiled weakly. "I guess I should report to the captain and take everything in stride. Swabbie, I'm counting on you to find me an eye patch later."

"Hoy! Hold it, small fry!"

The two boys looked around in surprise to see who had called them. They didn't see anyone around.

"Down here! Geez, are you two blind or what," the voice hollered from somewhere by their feet. A fish (or was it? It's face resembled the face of a man, and it had a paintbrush between its lips) was talking to them. "I couldn't help but overhear you," it went on in its harsh voice, "Seriously, you didn't get EVERYBODY small fry."

"Swabbie, what  _is_  that thing?" Niko whispered to Link.

Link shook his head. "I have no idea." He didn't know how to describe the thing except that it was something just below the Oocca on the weirdness tier.

"If you're looking for someone who knows about maps, well, let's say I know such a person," the queer fish offered.

"Really?" Niko was suddenly interested, no longer bothered by the fact that the speaker was a fish. "Can you tell me who?"

"Ah. Lemme think. But whoa there! You're that green fry who was with the Kingly Red Lion guy and who wiped the ocean floor with ol' Ganon a while ago! Sure, sure, I'll help you fries, especially since you gave me all that food for free!" the fish exclaimed, the paintbrush almost dropping out of its mouth. Link involuntarily took a step back from the watery fish eyes that were staring at him now – they were glassy, and kind of like a corpse's. Niko was also bothered by the thing's appearance, but he was more than eager to save his eye so he listened.

"Follow this carefully, all right small fry? I'm only going to say it once. ONCE. So pick your ears free of earwax and LISTEN UP. There's an island just south west of here. I heard this rumor about a crazy guy who pretends he's a fairy. Yeah, ain't that just whacked? Check it out, and bring a bunch of rupees. He's crazy, but he knows stuff about maps. Get it?"

Niko and Link exchanged glances. "Er, I guess we should let Vaati know," Link blinked. Niko nodded hurriedly and ran back to the ship to deliver the news, leaving Link behind with the fish.

"Yeah, you're welcome small fry! Don't mention it! You really don't need to thank me so much because you're making me embarrassed!" the fish griped and began to blow bubbles in the water. The boy in green tried to appear apologetic.

"Uh, thank you. We appreciate your help."

"Yeah yeah, whatever, small fry. I'm always so underappreciated. Such is the life of a fish…" there was a splash of water as the fish flipped its tail and sped away.

Link turned around and made his way back to the ship, somewhat disturbed by the fish's description of the man they were going to have to meet. He sounded vaguely familiar, but there was no way someone from the past could have survived this long into the future. Not someone  _normal,_  in any case. But…

 _A crazy guy who pretends he's a fairy and likes rupees._ Link vehemently shook his head, refusing to believe the conclusion he arrived at.  _No way, it has to be someone else._

XXXXXXXXXX

His first encounter with the man in green tights had been when the creep had tried to steal away a force gem from him while he had been going around Hyrule to defeat Vaati. The thought of the middle-aged man floating in the sky with his red balloon still gave him nightmares.

 _Please please please let it not be Tingle. Please let him be dead,_  Link prayed to the goddesses. When he had been travelling as his four selves across Hyrule to stop Vaati, the fairy-obsessed man kept appearing out of nowhere and tormented him. Constantly. Link grimly remembered the time Blue had, finally losing his temper, tried to shoot the man with an arrow:

" _Oh goddesses, you shot him Blue!"_

" _Shut up, Red! He's stalking us, I'm sure of it! He scares the bejeezus out of me!"_

" _Mr. Fairy, what did Tingle do to deserve your unkindness?"_

" _AAAAH! He's still alive!"_

Link frowned. Oh yes. Even though the legendary hero could defeat the great Vaati he could not get rid of Tingle. That man was invincible.

Niko, who was under the grip of Vaati, looked at Link standing next to him; the blond seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack. "Hey swabbie, what's wrong?"

Almost sounding as though he were talking to himself in an act of self-reassurance, Link mumbled, "Nothing, if I'm wrong about who I think we're going to meet."

Niko bit his nails with worry. Whether or not he escaped the wrath of the captain depended on the help of the man on the island they were headed for. Before he could turn even more worried from thinking too much about the situation, Niko was suddenly thrown down onto the deck and caught a face-full of cape as Vaati turned on his heel.

"We've arrived. Everyone besides me and Link are to stay on the ship."

"Aye aye, captain," Niko saluted before hurrying away. The little pirate was relieved to be finally away from the captain.

"I'm not – I'm not going. I'm staying right here," Link began to stutter as he saw the ship approach the island in question. A grotesque totem-like tower loomed up from the center of the island, and the head at the top of the totem was a face he knew all too well. Link silently cursed the goddesses for ignoring his prayers.

Vaati stopped in his tracks. "Pardon?"

What happened next made even Vaati lose his collected composure from the sudden unexpectedness.

Link broke out in screams.

" _I'm not going and you can't make me! I won't! I bloody won't!"_

"Calm down, boy. I've heard you once," Vaati's eyebrows made a slow swivel in irritation. Link's reaction to the island was worse than his reaction to spiders. "I just assumed you wanted to come along." He watched Link go off to a corner with repeated, muffled "No-s." Vaati snickered. "Curious. Do you know this man who can help us read the map?" Vaati laughed wickedly. "Ah, this will be interesting. A man who can cause the chosen hero to be genuinely afraid. Perhaps I can learn a thing or two."

Link's voice cracked as he tried to speak. He managed hoarsely, "Vaati, don't go. It's for your own good."

The mage smirked. "I'm touched by your concern, boy, but this map is incredibly important." He got a cyclone blowing around him and the mage landed on the island smoothly. The pirates and Link gathered around the edge of the ship to see what was going on. Link watched in horror as the mage strutted to the tower with Tingle's face on it. The mage wasn't going to know what hit him.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The wind mage, obliviously peaceful, approached the tower without knowing anything about the threat that awaited him. Just before he reached the base of the tower, a short man in his thirties came stumbling down its ladder and halted in front of the mage. It was difficult to ignore his tight green spandex suit that wrapped his not-so-attractive form, and Vaati narrowed his eyes; he was getting creepy vibes from the man.

"Hoo hoo hooooo! A visitor! And that fragrant musty scent! Sir, you have a chart!" Vaati took a small step backwards as the weird man leaned forwards, wiggling his hands behind him and neared his squinting face towards the mage. "Allow me to introduce myself, sir! Tingle is my name, and no one can best me when it comes to map deciphering."

When Vaati finally did manage to find his voice, he cleared his throat and tried to regain his composure. "Erhm. So we've heard. We require your services on this map," he said as he cautiously handed Tingle the map they had won at the auction.

The strange man's hands flopped around, perhaps his way of showing enthusiastic excitement, before he snatched the map away from Vaati's hands and held it inches from his nose. "Why, you can't read this chart in its current state! Impossible, sir!"

"So we've figured," Vaati growled impatiently.

"Yes, yes, you've come to the right place, sir!" Tingle went on, not in the least aware of the edge that had appeared in the mage's voice. "I can decipher it for you, for a small fee."

"Fee? It will do you good if you do it for free." A dangerous grin was appearing around the corner's of Vaati's lips.

Tingle continued onwards with a greedy glint in his eyes. Most normal people would have gotten the hint from the venom laced in Vaati's words, but Tingle, apparently, didn't notice anything wrong. "398 Rupees sir. It's fairly reasonable."

Maybe it was Link's reaction from earlier. Maybe it was the way that his usual scare tactics were going over the other man's head. Either way, Vaati was beginning to feel uneasy: there was something horribly creepy about Tingle and he figured he kind of understood Link's refusal to set foot on the island. He took out his Wind Waker and pointed it at Tingle, more to defend himself than to threaten, though he would never admit it.

"That's a rather steep price. Do it without a fee and I'll spare you, fool," Vaati shot with his best attempt at intimidation. It failed wonderfully.

"Ooooh! Sir, that looks magical! Magical… sir, are you perhaps… a fairy?"

There was a brilliant flash of light around Vaati's wrists as the runes of the binding curse spiraled around the Wind Waker and Tingle was sent flying. Vaati stood still for a few long seconds, watching the man warily. "Now, decipher the map, no fees." The pirates on board began to gather around the side of the ship to see what all the noise was from, and a few of them shook their heads in pity when they noticed the island man sprawled on the ground. Their looks of pity were cut short, however, when the man bounced back on his feet, smiling. They could see Vaati's face darken as Tingle skipped towards him, not rattled in the least.

"You must be a fairy sir, just like Tingle! Mr. Fairy, you make Tingle happy, for I have longed to meet more of your kind. Yes, yes, so happy!" Tingle clapped.

"Stay back!" Vaati hissed, and he sent a more powerful blast that caused Tingle to smash into his tower. The pirates watching above groaned and winced, some gasping in shock at what they thought was a brutal murder. Link was the only one who seemed unfazed.

It wasn't long before Tingle rubbed his head, a little dazed. He brushed himself off and reappeared in front of the mage with an expression of concern. "Mr. Fairy, are you angry? Don't be angry at Tingle, Mr. Fairy! I mean no harm."

"Get… get… get away from me…" was all Vaati managed, thoroughly spooked.

Tingle appeared to pout in disappointment. "I suppose you don't want me to decipher the map then. Okay. Come back with more rupees Mr. Fairy!" Tingle gave a short wave and went back up the ladder of his tower.

It took a full minute for Vaati to recover before he stooped down to pick up the map the creepy man had left behind. Nothing had ever scared him more than Tingle. It seemed all normal laws went out the window with the man, and he also had the feeling he wouldn't be able to kill Tingle even if he wanted to.

The map waved in the breeze in front of his face, and it wasn't until it stared at it for a little bit until he realized something important. The fact hit him like a sledgehammer to his skull.

He had accomplished absolutely nothing to make the map readable.

Vaati's lower lip trembled and he gripped the map, full of arcane symbols and codes that concealed its true secret, so tightly that it could have ripped.

The pirates on the ship yelped and jumped backwards when their captain suddenly teleported onto the deck. "Um, captain?" Gonzo tried cautiously, but the mage simply walked in a steady pace towards the cabin with a blank face. Everyone watched the door click shut, and after a few nervous seconds of eerie silence, a scream of fury erupted from inside.

Link exchanged glances with a terrified Niko. "I'll uh, I'll go check up on him."

XXXXXXXXX

"Vaati? Hey, Vaati, are you okay?" Link asked when he had found Vaati. The mage was sitting at the end of the table in the cabin, even paler than usual and with his shoulders hunched in exhaustion. He saw the mage trying to say something. "What? Sorry, you're a little hard to hear."

"Leave. Now," Vaati muttered. When he noticed Link waiting for him to specify a destination, Vaati roared, his voice cracking. " _Anywhere! Just not here!"_  He then went back to sitting blankly, still in shock that he had been utterly defeated by that… that  _thing_  on that godforsaken island. Link sighed. Time for a sanity check.

"What's your name?"

"Vaati, the Sorcerer of Winds," Vaati replied immediately, with no hint of sarcasm or verbal acid. Link frowned briefly; obviously the mage was still in shock for him not to give his usual snappy response.

"Ummm, good. Where are we?"

"A couple thousand years into the future on a pirate ship."

 _Still no good,_  Link thought. "Right, right. What are we trying to do?"

"Get back my magic." A twinge of annoyance appeared in Vaati's voice, and his brows furrowed together as he thought some more. "Kill you."

"Um, a bit off on our goals, but I guess that's not wrong. Who am I?"

"Link, the Hero of Legend. The idiot who keeps ruining my plans, the brat who miraculously survives everything I throw at him, the godda –"

"Great. You're fine." Link interrupted Vaati who had returned to his arrogant self. "I warned you about Tingle. You can't kill him."

The mage slumped dejectedly as he remembered the man. "You've tried?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I've tried! He tried to hinder my progress to collect the force gems I needed to beat you in the past," Link exclaimed. "I used to think he was with you, but then I figured even you wouldn't hire someone that weird. Not your style."

Vaati gave one nod in agreement. After a while, he put a hand on his chin. "Sword?"

"Nope. He floats with a balloon so I can't reach him."

"Arrows?"

"My blue version tried that. Nope."

"…Bombs?"

"The explosion pushed him away, but no, he came back. Seriously, he doesn't die. He always comes back smiling, and there's nothing scarier than the person who's supposed to be dead skipping towards you, smiling like it's their birthday."

Vaati took a deep breath of exasperation. "I see why you didn't want to come. That man, it's like he's from a different world."

"Yeah.  _Normal_  people would die after everything I did to him.  _Normal_  people would stay away after you try to blow them up.  _Normal_ people don't reappear in the future.  _Normal_ people don't wear green tights and pretend they're fairies. Tingle just scares me."

Vaati slowly and thoughtfully looked up at Link. "That sounds just like you, Link."

"Does not!"

Vaati laughed. Then, he uncharacteristically hung his head as though he were completely at a loss on what to do. Link had never seen the mage look so openly defeated, since the sorcerer always tried to maintain a proud façade no matter the situation. Therefore, this gloomy Vaati took him aback. "We're still stuck," Vaati mumbled to the floor.

"What happened down there?" Link asked, "Did Tingle not know how to decode the map?"

"He knows," Vaati spat, the fire returning to his eyes, and his face flushed slightly in anger. "He just… we have to pay him a lot of rupees for it."

"Oh." Link decided not to ask how much, because he figured that would make Vaati even more upset. He glanced at the mage, still staring at the floor in vacant defeat, and he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him even if he was one of the biggest asshat in centuries. Maybe Vaati was just trying too hard to hold on to his old self. Maybe he wasn't as bad as he –

The infamous wind mage suddenly looked up with a sharp glint in his eye, causing Link to start in surprise. Cogs that had been lying still had begun clicking and turning in Vaati's head. Ruby eyes wide, Vaati whispered to himself as an idea began to form, "I can do this." He turned to Link abruptly, and then cracked a grin. "If that fool wants rupees, then I'll give him rupees." With a laugh that was sounding too much like an evil cackle, Vaati stood up and swooped over to the door with renewed confidence. "I'll give him rupees! I'll show him I'm not defeated so easily!"

Link simply watched the door close shut after Vaati had left. He could hear the sorcerer barking orders to the crew to quickly set sail to the most unruly waters out at sea. There were shouts about big game hunting on the ocean, along with cries of disbelief and horror from the pirates.

Link gave a small sigh. Vaati was Vaati, all right.


	42. Rival? - The Master of Wind, Cyclok

Captain Linebeck was half asleep when he noticed someone wrapped around him. Smooth, thin arms brushed against his neck.  _It must be a woman_ , he thought, and closed his eyes back slowly so he could pretend to be asleep and enjoy the moment a little longer. Ah, he was such a lucky guy.

 _But, who could it be?_ his barely-there consciousness stirred as his brain refused to simply enjoy a good thing. Where was he, again? He was on his beloved ship, the S.S. Linebeck. He was –

_I'm on a ship with the toucan's monster crew._

It was as though winter had frozen over in Linebeck's head. All thought momentarily stopped when he remembered that he was on a ship full of monsters, and therefore being embraced by a woman was a highly unlikely scenario. He shifted his weight to see how much he could move, but the arms around him were wrapped much more tightly than he had first thought. He didn't dare open his eyes just yet.

There was a soft groan by his ear. For some reason he couldn't explain, it chilled him to his very core. This time, he gave a rougher push against his hugger and discovered that whoever it was had clung tightly onto him like someone with an obsession.

Alarm bells went off in his head as he began to piece together what he knew about the person holding on to him. One, this lady sent chills down his spine. Two, she was an obsessive clinger. Three, she was crazy enough to board a ship full of monsters.

In panic, Linebeck shook and shoved his captor off of him and whirled around. "Jolene!" he yelped his pirate stalker's name.

"Nnnnngaaah…"

It was not Jolene.

Linebeck shrieked.

It was the ship's Redead.

Yelling something incomprehensible, he stumbled away from the Redead while the huggy monster flopped back down with a "Nnnngeeeh." When he ran to the steering wheel, he found the Summoner Wizzrobe had already occupied it. Thistle appeared to be listening to something the Seahat was telling him in monster grunts and growls.

"Your Redead almost killed me!" Linebeck shouted, pointing a shaking finger at the wizzrobe. "And what in Din's name are you doing at the wheel of  _my_  ship? _!_ "

Thistle looked up and waved. "Hi there captain." Then, he peered over to the Redead that continued to stand in the middle of the ship like someone with a bad hangover. "Nonsense. It was keeping you from being eaten by the Like Like."

Linebeck noticed Likey jiggling back and forth along the deck of the ship. "Well I'd prefer it if neither of them came near me." He took a step closer to the wizzrobe and poked him in the chest. "And you, what are you doing? I don't remember giving you permission to steer."

Thistle frowned. "You didn't?"

"No!"

He turned away as though troubled. "Oh. Okay." Then, he turned back with a bright smile. "But since we're almost there anyway, how about I take over until we get there?"

"There? Where is 'there?'" The captain asked slowly.

Thistle pointed at the small speck in the distance, and Linebeck squinted his eyes to get a better look at their destination. He couldn't really tell what sort of island it was, but judging from how small it was he figured it wasn't one of those dangerous, fortress-like "Eye Reefs" that were usually guarded by warships. So far so good, but he still wasn't satisfied. "Why do we want to go there?" he demanded.

The Summoner Wizzrobe waved his sleeve towards the enormous head of the toothy Seahat that was floating just behind them above the water. The fishlike creature snapped its jaws in a threatening manner when Linebeck looked its way, but Thistle didn't seem to care. "I finally got a lead on the people I've wanted to find," he explained. "This Seahat heard from a few Gyorg that they encountered a pirate ship that had stopped at that island. The person who set foot on it fit the description of one of the people I'm looking for."

"Oh! Oh. Really." Linebeck tried not to look too happy from hearing the news. He gave the wizzrobe a pat on the head and pushed him towards the front of the ship. "In that case, I'll get us to that island as soon as we can. You go and sit at your favorite spot and just sit tight until we get there."

"Okay Captain."

Linebeck watched Thistle obediently walk towards the prow where he usually sat, and waited until the wizzrobe completely had his back to him that he gave a small jump with a fist pump, accompanied by a silent whoop. This was the best news he had heard in a while! Once that wizzrobe had found those poor sods that he was looking for, then he, Captain Linebeck, would have nothing more to do with him. It had taken far less time than he had thought to find any sort of lead! Linebeck leaned away from Blubble and Rubble that had nearly singed his hair off from floating by too close. He shot the two Bubbles a scathing look before he leaned back against the wheel, smiling slightly from the thought of being free. If he were lucky, maybe he could say goodbye to all of these abominations on his ship within a week or two.

And he was so much richer now to boot! Linebeck peeked at the cubby space next to his foot that was now crammed with treasure chests fat with rare-colored rupees. With all this loot he could easily buy a nice tropical island with a luxury mansion. Maybe he could outfit the S.S. Linebeck with a really nice canon. Made of solid gold.  _You can do it Linebeck, there's always light at the end of the tunnel, even if the tunnel is seemingly endless._

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Link had left the cabin, the pirates outside were bustling about, making sure the ship was completely prepared for any trouble it might encounter. Sails were checked for tears, the masts were checked for damage, and the cannons were checked to see if there were enough gunpowder and cannonballs. Zuko was way up in the crow's nest, looking out to sea intently for… something.

Link caught hold of Niko who had run along next to him while biting his nails. It didn't seem like he had been given any noteworthy job other than staying out of everyone else's way. He took the little pirate by the shoulders, calming him down. "What's going on now?"

"We're all going to die!"

"Not if I can help it. What's Vaati up to?" Link nodded his head towards the captain who was making rounds to see if everything was satisfactory. It was a silly gesture, since Link doubted Vaati knew a thing about seafaring: he was just doing it for the image.

Niko waved his hands wildly, making a motion as though he were some kind of squid-thing. "He wants us to find Big Octos, swabbie! Sailors are supposed to stay away from those things, not go after them!"

"Big Octos? Like, Octoroks but big?"  _That doesn't sound so bad,_ Link thought.

Niko tutted. "Oh no, oh no. Not just big, but BIG. Like, it could snap this ship in half with a tentacle. It can also trap ships inside a whirlpool, and then you have no choice but to wait to get sucked into the watery depths and drown!" he exclaimed dramatically. Within a few seconds, however, he went back to biting his nails, "See? _!_  We're all going to die!"

"It's okay, because we've got Link on board to deal with trouble."

Senza approached the two boys. Unlike Niko, he didn't seem to be so worried, and the tall burly pirate slapped Link heartily in the back. It almost sent the smaller one flying. "Link's gone and defeated his share of huge monsters. Right, kid?"

Link's face fell. Sure, it was nice to be complimented on his fighting prowess, which he  _was_  a little proud of, but the point was… he didn't remember ever fighting anything that was out in the water. He didn't particularly enjoy shouldering the entire crew's safety from the super-monster they were hunting for. "Er," he muttered unsurely. He noticed Vaati strutting over to them; he had finished his rounds.

"Do you have a problem with something?" the mage asked coolly.

Link gave his head a small puzzled tilt. "Why are we going after Big Octos now?"

Vaati snorted. "Oh, right. You weren't there when I was explaining why we were going to kill these things." The mage held out a rupee. "This," he flipped the rupee in front of Link's face. "That detestable man who can decode our map wants rupees, and lots of it." He put the rupee away somewhere in the depths of his cape, and he gave a scornful huff. "While these pirates were fooling around at the bar at Windfall Island, I managed to learn that the greatest fortunes are found with the Big Octos. This information fits perfectly with our current situation."

Senza peered over at the wind mage. As one of the pirates least intimidated by the sorcerer, he had the nerve to laugh. "Haha, well I have to admit I don't remember much from that night," he chuckled, "but I do remember your awful singing with Gonzo."

"Vaati… singing," Link turned to Vaati with a funny look on his face. Niko's expression next to him had contorted from a battle to decide whether or not it was okay to laugh.

Vaati gave Senza the glare of all glares. Senza immediately stopped laughing as the wind mage growled with a heavily loaded suggestion, "I don't think you remember any of that."

"It was – " Senza began, but then he stopped himself short. He could see the furious captain getting ready to suggest a way to forget that memory. "Uh, yeah, I don't know what I'm talking about."

Keeping his eyes on Senza for a few seconds longer just to get his point across, Vaati then casually glanced over his shoulder at Link. "So there you have it. I take it you have no objections."

"Are you sure you can beat it?" Link momentarily regretted asking when Vaati returned it with a steely gaze that clearly said, "What kind of an idiot question is that?" The hero clarified. "I mean, if the thing gets the ship first then we'll be in all sorts of trouble. I'm sure you yourself will be fine; I'm just worried about the ship," he added at the end, quickly.

"Am I sure? Do I have to answer that?" Vaati replied huffily.

"Fine," Link repressed a sigh, making a mental note to be extra cautious about keeping the ship safe from harm. Then, he presented another dilemma. "Also, how are we going to find these monsters? They can be anywhere." Link waved his hand out to the vast open expanse of ocean spreading miles upon miles in all directions.

Before Vaati could answer, a small clamor that was growing in excitement interrupted him from the front of the ship. Nearly all of the pirates had gathered around at the prow, and Zuko in the crow's nest was shouting something at him from above. "We found some, captain! Straight ahead!"

Link and Niko exchanged glances. "Some?" Niko squeaked. That meant there were more than one.

Vaati made his way over to where the pirates were, quickly pushing those that were in his way aside. He had the Wind Waker out, and he was itching for a fight.

"Captain! They're dead by the looks of it!" Zuko called again as he brought his telescope down.

"What?"

Curious by the claim that the Big Octos were dead, Link and Niko joined Vaati and the pirates at the front to take a look. In front of the ship some distance away, they could see the faint outline of a few, small rocks jutting out of the ocean. Two white objects had washed up against them, and they swayed with the waves like giant blankets. They continued to bump against the rocks lifelessly. That was all they could see from where they were, but considering how far they were, Link could only imagine how big these creatures were. He asked the question that was on everyone's minds. "What killed them?"

"I don't know, but their treasure still better be there," Vaati grumbled.

The sharp, fishy stench of decay wafted through the ship as soon as they were close enough to have a better look at the dead giant squid. The dozens of eyes that covered the enormous head of the monsters appeared damaged, like something had smashed them in. Both of the creatures also appeared to have suffered a serious impact on their heads as they were dented and bruised severely. Link could hear the muffled discussion going on between the pirates. "I hope we don't meet whatever got them," he heard someone whisper. He couldn't agree more.

Vaati considered the corpses for a while, and then he brought the Wind Waker up, summoning a small whirlwind around the dead Big Octos. It spun them around, made them bump into the rocks a few times, and broke off a few tentacles as the squid were flung into the air. After a few minutes of the disgusting, smelly cephalopods being whirled in the air, there were still no signs of any wonderful treasure chests anywhere.

The dead monsters were freed from the tornado and they dropped to the water with a loud splat. As though on cue, the pirates took a step away from the stifling aura surrounding their captain.

The ship lurched, and the crew stumbled and staggered to keep their balance. Thunder clapped, immediately calling forth black clouds that rolled over the horizon and instantly obscuring the friendly blue skies from earlier. Link moved to the side of the ship, catching himself from tripping from the way the ship was suddenly being tossed around by the rough waves. He gasped. There was an enormous whirlpool about twenty feet in diameter, threatening to suck the ship towards the center and crush it, and the Big Octos had already disappeared into the vortex. A cyclone was also beginning to appear above the whirlpool.

"Vaati!" Link steadied himself against the mast as the ship gave another groan, and he ran towards the sorcerer in an attempt to stop him. Vaati appeared to be watching the water below, and he momentarily lifted his head to see Link running towards him before he went back to observing the darkening shadow below.

"It's not me," he stated.

"Then what – "

Link never got to finish his question, as he was interrupted by a mist of seawater from a large splash from somewhere within the whirlpool. When he wiped his eyes clear of seawater, he saw that there was a creature about two-thirds the size of the Big Octos floating near the top of the cyclone that had formed above the whirlpool. It was a blue octopus monster with four arms that appeared to be controlling the cyclone. Its white splotches blended in with the sea foam that sprayed viciously across it in the wind.

" _So you were the ones who were murdering my brethren,"_ it hissed accusatorially through the screaming wind. " _You were foolish to anger the Stirrer of Winds, Cyclok! The master of the sky and the sea!"_

The ship shook again from the rough waters, and Cyclok brought the monstrous vortex closer, threatening to split the ship to splinters and crush it beneath the ocean. Just before it moved too close to the ship, however, an invisible wall appeared to stop the vortex from moving forward. Cyclok jerked back, startled, and then proceeded forward again. The invisible wall was still there, and this time, a powerful gust pushed him backwards, cyclone and all, away from the ship.

Vaati was standing on top of the ship's railings with the Wind Waker gripped tightly in his right hand. Then, he stepped off casually before he was caught from falling by a small tornado of his own. "The self-proclaimed master of the sky is called the 'Stirrer' of Winds? Stupid," the wind mage snorted. "Oh how standards have fallen through the years."

" _And who do you think you are, you little sea flea?_ " Cyclok challenged. Meanwhile, the pirate crew was desperately trying to move their ship away from the turbulent confrontation.

Vaati brought himself to the same height as the wind monster. "I'm the Sorcerer of Winds, the greatest mage of all time and one with the power of the Gods themselves!"

" _That doesn't impress me. You're no better than Cyclos and Zephos, those feeble frogs who call themselves Gods. Gods! That word holds no meaning to me. The Gods are dead."_

Vaati could feel his patience withering. Few things annoyed him more than an incompetent creature trying to steal his title as the master of winds. "You go and keep stirring your puffs of air, you pathetic fool," he whispered softly, words laced with poison, "and I'll show you what it means to be Godlike."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Peace! Peace at last! Captain Linebeck allowed himself to relax for the first time in days, and he sat along the side of his ship, absentmindedly polishing the rails with a kerchief. Most of the monsters except for Likey had gone below deck after becoming tired of the constant sunlight, and that wretched wizzrobe himself had left the ship to look around the island.

And dang, what an unpleasant island it was. It wasn't that it appeared dangerous, because it was nothing of the sort: pink and white wildflowers were carefully tended in small patches around the island, and it was a far cry from the dark and gloomy dungeon-types he had occasionally encountered. It was just… he was highly bothered by the design of the totem-like tower in the center of the island. All he could say that whoever had crafted it had very poor taste in design.

A little curious to see what the wizzrobe was up to, Linebeck momentarily wandered off to look at what he was doing. Thistle was standing just by the base of the tower, talking to some guy in a green, skin-tight outfit. They appeared to be engaged in lively conversation as they chattered on happily.  _Birds of a feather,_ Linebeck thought as he watched the two eccentrics talking to each other. Losing interest, he went back to where he had been sitting earlier and waited in content boredom for Thistle to finish whatever business he had at the island.

Out on the island, Thistle amazingly held conversation with the man even Vaati had found unbearable. "You don't say, you saw a real fairy? Tell me what he was like," the wizzrobe exclaimed between giggles after the other man had mentioned meeting one earlier. "I think I'm looking for fairies myself!"

Tingle jumped up and down in excitement. "I did! He wasn't wearing green like normal fairies, but he could use all kinds of magic! Though," Tingle stopped jumping and scratched his head, "he wasn't very nice to Tingle."

"How rude. From what I can tell you're a very nice person," Thistle shook his head sympathetically. "What did he look like? Was everything about him purple?"

"Everything!" Tingle cried. "How did kind sir know?"

At this confirmation, Thistle gave a small whoop. "Kehaha! It has to be him!" He turned around to give a thumbs-up to Linebeck, but the captain had already gone to the other side of the ship after losing interest. Slightly disappointed, the wizzrobe turned back to Tingle. "I was looking for him. Do you know where they went?"

"No sir. They wanted Tingle to look at a map, but they didn't have any shiny rupees to share."

"I have rupees," Thistle blurted.

"You dooo? _!_ " Tingle inched closer while the wizzrobe nodded animatedly. The fairy-obsessed man then scratched his chin. "But sir, I don't think you have any maps for Tingle to decipher. Tingle always accepts charity, though?" he added with a hopeful glimmer in his eyes.

The wizzrobe shook his head. "No, no maps. But I  _do_  want to know where the map the purple fairy had actually leads to." Thistle glanced at Linebeck's ship where all of the treasure was stashed.

Tingle swayed from side to side. "Hmmm, I can remember some of it. It'll be more difficult to tell you where the map leads to because you don't have the map itself," the man trailed off following the wizzrobe's brief attention to the ship with treasure. Thistle caught on.

"Of course I can pay you more than the usual rate." The Summoner Wizzrobe giggled, and then waved his hand in a small circle in the air. With a small puff of smoke, the treasure chests that had been on the ship appeared just before their feet. "I'm sure the captain won't mind. Kehahahaha!"


	43. We Walk Alone on Our Own Road

Vaati calmly observed the vortex that shrieked in front of him, whipping up sea spray into a watery tornado. The mage snorted indignantly: any idiot with half a brain could predict who the winner would be in a battle between the infamous Sorcerer of Winds and some creature with a stupid name like 'Stirrer of Winds." The corners of his mouth twitched, suppressing the sneer he'd used to wear on his face back when he had been feared. It was a sneer that could strike fear into whoever stood in his way, one that wasn't tainted with a hint of uncertainty and frustration that he'd had before his confrontation with the Helmaroc King.

He wasn't sure how many months had passed since he'd found himself excited about a fight. What he enjoyed most was the idea that he could crush his opponent any way he wanted. He could experiment with the variety of ways he had to destroy someone: he could flatten them with a powerful claw of his final form, disintegrate them to pieces with a powerful blast of magic, tear them apart with his swarm of sentry eyes, or maybe gradually break apart their will to fight without even laying a finger on them.

Vaati deflected a trio of small, fast tornados from Cyclok with tornados of his own. The winds hurled against each other for a few seconds before they both canceled each other out and disappeared.

Ah yes! Yes, yes, yes! He had power back at his fingertips once again, and all thanks to the Wind Waker. It wasn't until he had encountered the Helmaroc King that he had been able to figure out that the small silver baton could be the conduit for all of his spells that were locked down from that maddening binding curse, and he hadn't been able to try out its full potential until now. It was definitely more awkward using the Wind Waker to channel his magic, but if he got over that then he had unlimited access to all of his wind-based sorcery.

Which was essentially the only magic he ever cared about using. In short, he was back. Crippled, but back.

Cyclok thrashed around in the air, obviously frustrated that none of his wind-based attacks were working. As the fight wore on it was becoming clearer that the sorcerer wasn't even trying and was still holding him back quite easily. The flying octorok creature was used to having anything and everything thrown out of his way with his powerful tornados, but now that he was up against someone where that didn't work at all, he was running out of ideas on what to do.

There was a roar of cannons and Cyclok was momentarily knocked out of the air when a cannonball was caught in the very cyclone that kept it floating and rose up to meet the monster in an explosive impact. Cyclok shrieked as another one hit its arm.

"Shoot it down!" Link shouted, directing the pirates in the absence of their captain, "Aim for the tornado beneath Cyclok and let his wind do the rest." He peered over the ship's railings, watching the cannons rise up and hit the unsuspecting monster. The other pirates had at first attempted to aim for Cyclok directly, but Link had advised them to shoot just below where he'd guessed the monster wouldn't be so vigilant in keeping defenses up. He spoke from experience with his fight with Vaati in his final form from a while ago: in fact, Cyclok behaved almost exactly like Vaati's final form except its tornados appeared weaker and clumsier. If Vaati kept the monster preoccupied and unable to advance towards the ship, then he and the pirates could take it down with the ship's cannons and –

Link froze. "Huh?" He dropped his hands to his side involuntarily as Vaati's red eyes gleamed through the mist and pinned him with a glare. It was soul piercing, and left Link wondering what he had done to earn him such a terrible look.

"Stay out of this," Vaati's lips moved, his words inaudible above the din. To the surprise of everyone, the sorcerer slashed the Wind Waker through the air, causing a storm of air blades to explode the next incoming set of cannonballs that were aimed at his opponent. The cannons stopped firing and everyone fell to a quiet, confused hush. Vaati shouted louder, and this time his words were clearly heard. "The next person to interfere pays with their life!"

Vaati scowled, immensely annoyed. Those idiots were ruining the first fun he'd had in ages! He wanted to beat this imposter alone, and with no help. To hell with it all, he didn't need  _help!_  The only reason he'd allowed Link or anyone else to fight with him before was because he'd been stripped of his powers, but not anymore! He wasn't going to be humiliated any longer!

Down below, Link hadn't moved from his initial position in shock. He couldn't believe Vaati was being so stupidly selfish about the fight in this situation. He wasn't thinking about the safety of everyone else by going into this fight alone! Vaati wasn't at full power yet, and they didn't know just what Cyclok was capable of. Vaati was still staring at him intently, threatening him should he move an inch. Link hesitated, leaning back a little. Then, he stirred. One of Cyclok's long arms rose upwards to strike down on Vaati, finding an opening when the sorcerer wasn't paying attention. "Watch out!" Link immediately drew his bow.

There was a sickening snap as razor winds crisscrossed his vision. Pain exacerbated by saltwater seared from his hands, and they dropped the bow from being sliced by the sharp winds. Before Link knew what was happening, he was thrown overboard into the rough waters below. Just before he hit the water, he could see Vaati's eyes narrow and his lips move. "It's your fault," the sorcerer's expression said, "I warned you," his lips added. He barely even looked at Cyclok, whose arm that had gone to attack him had been sliced cleanly off. The monster writhed painfully in the air behind him.

Link waited for the cold splash to hit his back, but it never came. Instead, he jerked to a violent stop when someone grabbed onto his foot.

"I've got you, swabbie!"

"Niko!"

The buck-toothed pirate had managed to catch him at the last minute. Gonzo helped the two of them back on board as Niko had also almost been cast off the ship. The two boys rolled onto the deck, recovering from the shock. Niko was the first to get up. He turned towards the sky where the battle was raging. What he saw left him speechless.

Link didn't get up for some time. "By the three goddesses…" he heard Niko trail off next to him. He could hear other things, too. He could hear the wind howling in eerie, unnatural wails. He could hear the explosions and the gruesome roars of battle. He could… hear the laughter. An insane laughter of a broken soul.

Link dared to look up, and he lifted his eyes slowly. He sat there, blankly, watching the battle that passed up above. Cyclok was limp and lifeless, and it was difficult to tell whether or not the monster was even staying afloat on its own power or if Vaati's relentless attacks were preventing it from falling. Vaati had somehow managed to figure out how to unlock a part of his final transformation and his left arm had taken on a black color and turned into a gigantic, lethal claw. Tendrils of black clouds left trails in the air with each tearing swipe he took at the helpless Stirrer of Winds. Perhaps the most unnerving part of the whole scene was the fact that Vaati continued to laugh, taking joy in complete obliteration.

Link looked away, unable to watch the scene any longer. He was still in shock that Vaati had actually tried to kill him this time and had almost succeeded causing him serious harm: he was disappointed in himself that he had been so naïve all along. Vaati had tried to kill him when all Link had been trying to do was help. A small voice argued in his head.

_Can't you see it now? You gave him so many chances, but in the end he couldn't change. He's too far-gone. No one can help him anymore._

_Yeah, I know. I was stupid. He didn't seem that bad when he couldn't do anything._

_Of course not! He had no choice but to act the way he did. Now you see that given the chance of choosing between Good and Evil, he won't choose wisely._

Link looked up again. The scene above made him angry and sad at the same time. Maybe he harbored some pity as well, though he wasn't quite sure why. The way the sorcerer was going about things reminded him of someone who was trying to prove something. It reminded him of someone who was desperately afraid of losing purpose and was clinging on to any excuse he could find.

_But what if there's more to it than it seems? What if I live with the regret that I was wrong that things couldn't be different?_

_He was just using you. You fell right into his trap to lure you into security._

_But I…_

The other voice won the battle. It shut the other voice up with a definitive blow.

_No. This has gone on far enough. It's time to end things before it gets worse. And it HAS been getting worse. You can't deny it anymore!_

Link closed his eyes. When he opened them again, there was a sad, but steely resolve to them.

_It's time to go. Alone._

XXXXXXXXXX

"Done with your errand, beaky?" Linebeck stretched when Thistle had returned from the island. The wizzrobe looked pleased with himself, and he held out a weather-worn parchment paper that had a drawing of a map scrawled on it.

"Oh yes! That kind man over there showed me where I should go next." Thistle grinned. Linebeck completely missed the replacement of 'we' with the singular 'I' in the wizzrobe's statement. Instead, the captain puzzled over the map that appeared to have been scribbled by a small child. It was just a picture of what appeared to be a very tall tower, and there were no other indicators to show any normal seafaring sailor where on the Great Sea it could be. The only hint of help was a small number written messily in a corner.

"I can't tell jack shit from this," Linebeck tapped the map with the back of his hand. "How am I supposed to get us here?"

"It's a very helpful map! I know, because I paid good money for it."

Thistle's cackling laughter did nothing to help the sinking feeling in Linebeck's stomach. If one listened closely, they might have heard the metaphorical mental cogs in Linebeck's head click to a stop. They may have also heard a few bolts pop out. "Errr… what? Repeat that last part for me again?" Linebeck's mouth managed to move. His suntanned complexion had begun to take on a sickly pale yellow shade.

Thistle leaned forward and pinched his thumb and forefinger together as though he were holding a rupee. Then, he gave a small puff of air and flicked his fingers apart as though the invisible rupee had popped away. "Poof! I spent all the treasures we found to get my hands on this valuable map." He didn't seem to notice that Linebeck's color was returning rapidly, but this time in a bright shade of red. Thistle cheerily tapped the side of his head, "It was very forward thinking of you, Captain. I couldn't have afforded that man's services to show me where I should go next, kehehe. I'm in your debt."

"D-debt," Linebeck was livid. His voice rose in a crescendo, "You-you-you  _you!_  You have no idea how much debt you're in you… you…" Linebeck pointed a shaking finger at the renegade wizzrobe, unable to come up with an insult that was horrible enough to accurately portray just what he thought of him.

"But I do know. I owe you eight-hundred and thirty rupees exact," Thistle explained simply.

Linebeck screamed. "Eight-hundred and thirty rupees for that useless piece of – "

"But it's not useless," Thistle maintained firmly, "I got exactly what I wanted."

Linebeck paced around the ship, tearing his hair, biting his nails, and tugging at his jacket like a child who was having a nervous breakdown. After a full minute, the captain finally returned in front of Thistle and placed his hands heavily on the monster's shoulders. "Listen, you were just swindled. That scribble is not worth a fortune. Go and get my money back," his voice pleaded, emphasizing 'my.'

Thistle shook away Linebeck's hands from his shoulders. "I assure you I was not swindled. This  _map_ ," he corrected, "is exactly what I asked for." Thistle brightened up, laughing. "Consider this, captain: you have just as much money as before you met me, so you really haven't lost anything at all!"

Linebeck's eyes rolled in their sockets. "Left…" he tried to find his voice again, "How much money do I have left?" he asked weakly. He was afraid to know the answer.

Thistle snickered mercilessly. "None!"

Linebeck trembled. None. None? Was this real? This had to be a bad dream. There was a long period of uncomfortable silence where Linebeck appeared to be trying to come to terms with that ugly word. He didn't seem to notice the monsters who had been below deck lurking back to the surface behind him. "Beaky you are so dead," he finally managed, quietly. Then, he exploded in a startling outburst, " _Dead!"_  Linebeck lunged towards Thistle who was still giggling at him mockingly.

The wizzrobe disappeared as soon as the captain swiped at him with his arms, and Linebeck stumbled forward as he clawed at the empty air. Something suddenly kicked him from behind and the poor captain sprawled onto the floor. Thistle's familiar snickers sounded more ominous than usual.

"Kehahaha," the wizzrobe laughed softly as his fellow monsters formed a circle around them, "I'm sorry, captain. It won't do for you to threaten your passenger like that." Thistle leaned forward towards the captain who was now beginning to appear frightened by the wizzrobe's cold tone. Linebeck cringed backwards while turning his head nervously towards the closing circle of monsters. "If that's how you feel about me, then I'm afraid it's time we part ways. I have no more use for you anyways."

Linebeck yelped. "No! No wait, please! I didn't mean th – "

"Farewell, captain! I'll send you off with the crew so you won't feel lonely at sea."

"No wai - !"

The captain never got to finish his plea. Out on the Great Sea just in the waters near Tingle's island, a small white steamship vanished without a trace. It had been there one second, and completely gone the next as though it had never existed. Instead, a creature in a small light purple robe balanced itself on top of a Seahat that had been left behind. Chuckling, Thistle took another look at the map he had bought from Tingle earlier. "I hope the captain enjoys whatever ocean I sent him to," he mused to himself, "I wonder if the Like Like or the Redead would eat him first, hmm?" He continued to eye the childish scribble of the island he needed to go to next, and paid careful attention to the numbers written on the bottom of the paper. They were coordinates. "No matter. I know where to find you, Lord Vaati. I will be waiting for you. And when we meet," Thistle snapped his fingers, and he disappeared, leaving only the Seahat and the echo of his voice, "I will be the one to kill you."

XXXXXXXXXX

There was a slightly awkward atmosphere on the pirate ship once Cyclok had been defeated. Vaati was the only one who seemed to be in good spirits as the leader of the Big Octos had given up a large fortune after its defeat. Or rather, "decapitation" may have been a more appropriate word considering how the sorcerer had managed to mangle the creature to pieces. The rest of the crew nervously floated around the ship like ghosts, keen not to set the captain off after seeing his frightening display of power. The pirates were even more unsettled that the sorcerer had actually raised his hand against Link with a serious intention to hurt him. At the same time, no one was brave enough to question the captain so the awkward atmosphere continued.

Niko meekly made his way to Vaati with the map Tingle had deciphered for them. As the lowest ranking pirate, he had been given the most unpleasant task of approaching Tingle once again to make the map readable. Technically Link should have been the one to return to Tingle's island since he was Niko's swabbie, but the skivvy had felt bad after what Link had gone through. The hero wasn't really himself ever since Vaati had attacked him.

The map had been deciphered much quicker than Niko had thought it would take. Apparently all it took to make the map readable was to throw some confetti in the air and do a flip while exclaiming "Kooloo-Limpah!" It wasn't something he had thought would take hundreds of rupees to do.

"Um, I'm back with the map, captain," Niko squeaked. Vaati had his back to him, but that didn't make him any less imposing. The sorcerer held out his hand without turning around, and Niko hastily handed it to him. Vaati read it for a while, then nodded to himself a few times while muttering 'good.' Niko didn't dare move until Vaati finally whirled around and made his way towards Senza at the wheel to direct where to go. "Good work. Now get out of the way until I need you again."

"Yes sir!" Niko scrambled away, eager to leave. He almost tripped when the wind mage called him again.

"Where is Link, by the way? I know he didn't drown."

Niko looked at the captain carefully. He didn't get it at all: how could this person ask about the person he'd nearly killed so casually like he'd done nothing wrong? "He's inside, sir. I wouldn't say he's feeling well."

"Seasick is he?" Vaati snorted. The sorcerer huffed and continued to walk away.

Niko wasn't sure what came over him when he spoke to the sorcerer next. He remembered feeling his cheeks burn from the injustice. The lack of care. He'd actually been angry enough at the captain that he'd dared to question him. "Sir," Niko said loudly, surprising himself. He hesitated briefly when Vaati stopped, but he continued on, "you attacked him."

A voice in Niko's head screamed for him to run when Vaati turned around slowly and deliberately in a very terrifying manner. The sorcerer's eyes narrowed, and his pale hands twitched towards the Wind Waker by his belt. "I did warn him not to get in my way," he finally hissed after an interminable amount of time. The other pirates stood frozen, unsure whether or not they should stop Niko or not and risk getting caught in the crossfire of Vaati's wrath.

"He was only trying to help!" Niko exclaimed, "He thought you were in danger, I saw the whole thing!" The little pirate's voice rose louder as he gained confidence. He was already screwed since he'd challenged the captain, so he might as well go down gloriously.

Vaati appeared more puzzled than angry that the little pirate was standing up to him all of a sudden. A hint of impatience, however, was creeping into his voice. "Since you saw everything, did it look like I actually needed  _help?_ "

"No," Niko replied fearlessly. "But you didn't have to hurt him. He's your crewmate!"

Now the impatience was clearly audible. Vaati rolled his eyes. "That boy does not die from a little scratch like that. Believe me, I'm well aware of that."

"That's not the point, sir. He wanted to think you were better than that and you ruined it."

"I don't care what he thinks, imbecile."

Niko's voice shook from his frustration of it all. "One day," he stood, his small frame trembling, "one day you're going to be left all alone, and you'll wish you took better care of the people who wanted to help you."

"And that's the best thing I can ask for," Vaati suddenly snapped, causing Niko to flinch. He rounded on the little pirate, and Niko lost his composure. "Having people around me is a pain, do you hear me? If I could rid myself of this joke of a situation that fate has played on me then I would gladly do it. You don't understand anything, you idiot. I don't need anybody, and least of all Link," he snarled venomously. Infuriated, Vaati turned on his heel and went back to bark orders at Senza who stood frozen at the wheel. He sneered disdainfully at Niko who had lost energy in his legs and had crumbled to the floor in shock at what he had dared to do. Vaati's previous good mood had completely left and he was sufficiently sour.

" _One day you're going to be left all alone."_

Vaati scowled. Like he cared about that. He was going to have to kill Link one day anyway.

Yeah.

It wasn't like he had a choice. They were fated to fight, after all. He'd set out to be the greatest sorcerer of all time. That was his life purpose. If that meant he had to kill every living thing in the world, then he'd do it.

He had to.

Alone.


	44. Crisis

Moonlight danced on the water, and Link was grateful for the full moon tonight. Thanks to it, it was surprisingly light outside, and he didn't have to worry about venturing out into the dark abyssal surroundings of the empty, shadowy waters. He rubbed his eyes, still sleepy from lack of rest. While on the trip to the location where Vaati's map had indicated, Link had planned to lie down and sleep to forget about the future, but instead his thoughts had tormented him to the point he had been wide awake for the entire way there. At one point the door had opened slowly with Niko checking up on him to see if he was okay. The little pirate appeared shaken by something that had happened out on the deck, but he never mentioned to Link what it was. He simply avoided his gaze and earnestly told him not to worry about it before he hurried away. "I only wanted to see if you were okay," the pirate had said. He'd added with a brave, cheerful expression, "As your superior, I have to make sure my swabbie's okay!" and then had hurried away without asking any questions. Link was grateful that Niko left him alone without asking him why he was lying in bed in the middle of the day.

It had taken hours of tossing on his side as he snuggled under the blankets to come to terms with the idea of leaving the ship and setting off alone. Leaving Vaati. He still wanted to believe that they could see this whole trial through until the very end.

But why? What good was it to even make it through together to the finale? What awaited them then? All that was left waiting for them was a fight to take the other's life: either Link brought Vaati back to Hyrule for the noose, or Vaati killed him. There was no other choice. A childish, selfish part of him didn't want to think about the noose at all – he never liked that thing – but from the very beginning he had gone out to find Vaati because he knew Hyrule needed to see him hang. He'd gone out with a sense of duty for the people who had been wronged by the sorcerer – he'd been told that they deserved a sense of justice served by seeing their tormentor publicly executed.

At some point during their ordeal, Link had tried to forget about what awaited them at the end. He'd even convinced himself, albeit only for a moment, that Vaati wasn't as bad as he seemed, or that he could be reformed, even. After all, the two had been able to work together just fine, and even though there were a few squabbles here and there, they had all been rather minor and for the most part, they had helped each other out in the toughest of times.

But now…

Ever since Vaati had figured out how to use the Wind Waker to its full potential, Link had learned a hard lesson that he had been too forgiving all this time. Vaati wasn't going to forget they stood on opposite, uncompromising sides, and he was demonstrating how he wouldn't hesitate to kill him when the time came. It was almost as though the closer they came to nearing the end of their adventure, the more Vaati took a step back, separating himself from Link and maintaining the distance that had (as Link believed) attempted to mend itself during the Argorok threat.

Link peered into the darkened waters of the nighttime ocean. They had arrived at the island of interest at dusk, and Vaati had decided to leave exploration during the day when it would be easier to see, so Link was the only one walking around on the ship awake at this hour. It was the first time since he had seen where they had actually arrived since he had been lying on his back inside during the entire trip, so he was surprised when he finally made out the silhouette of the island through the moonlight.

It appeared to be the same large, tall tower they had first arrived at after the Render had sent them even farther into the future.  _How's that for irony?_  Link thought to himself with a small, bitter smile.

He looked down into the water again where they were anchored, and sighed heavily. He knew he had to leave – he had to. Otherwise he was going to have to face the fight he didn't want to take part in.

He didn't know if he could watch Vaati die.

So he was going to go off on his own.

Link turned away from the water in shame. Here he was, the supposedly courageous hero chosen as a champion of the goddesses, and he was taking the coward's way out of a problem by running away from it. Instead of facing the problem, he was turning his back and ignoring it…

 _But what else am I supposed to do?_ he asked his lingering conscience. Taking one last look behind him, he felt a twinge of regret for not being able to tell the pirates, especially Niko, that he was going to leave them. Then, he climbed over the rails on the side of the ship and prepared to jump into the water below.

"Don't do it!"

Link froze and panic set in. Did someone see him? No! If he talked to any of the pirates now then his resolve to leave would crumble. He had to jump, he had to! Now!

"You still have more life to live: don't jump!"

A confused expression slowly emerged on Link's face.  _Huh?_  He turned around, trying to find the source of the voice, but he didn't see anyone on the ship. Link frowned; he was sure he'd heard the voice before somewhere. Eyes searching the ship for a few more confused minutes, Link shrugged and turned back to the water when he couldn't find anyone around. He almost lost his balance and fell into the ocean when a large, yellow beak shoved itself in front of his face.

"Don't. Jump. Kehaha."

"What, you again? You're not dead?" Link swatted Thistle away with an annoyed expression, causing the wizzrobe to snicker and float back a few feet away in the air in front of him. "And knock it off – I'm not going to die by jumping into the ocean. Even the shore is only a few yards away."

"You ruined the perfect dramatic scene where the protagonist, unable to cope with all the burdens placed upon him, tragically jumps to his death even as I try to stop him," Thistle managed to appear sufficiently disappointed even with his beak. "And I was going to summon a slew of aquatic monsters right where you land so you actually  _would_ die."

Link slowly climbed back onto the other side of the guardrails where he would have more room to maneuver. With a metallic hiss, his sword was drawn and he watched the renegade wizzrobe's movements carefully.

Thistle edged closer to the ship and he turned his head this way and that, looking for something. "I don't see Lord Vaati anywhere," he observed. He tilted his head, giving Link an inquisitive look. "Why are you out here all alone? Aren't you and Lord Vaati inseparable?" the wizzrobe grinned, expecting some response from Link that suggested annoyance. Link's response wasn't something Thistle had expected at all: he didn't react one bit. All he got was a determined, serious look in the other boy's eyes that was filled with finality. Taken aback, Thistle stared at him flatly. "Ahhhh, something happened between you two, didn't it?"

"Not really."

"Errr, no?"

"No," Link replied firmly. His hand squeezed the hilt of his sword, annoyed by the goddesses awful timing of the wizzrobe. He didn't need this sort of distraction just when he had been mentally preparing himself to make a difficult decision to leave the pirate ship for good.

For the first time in a long time, the situation had flipped on Thistle and it was his turn to be slightly flabbergasted. "I don't understand," his robes flopped to his sides. "Then what are you out here all alone for? I wanted to say hello to Lord Vaati as well."

"It's none of your business," Link's eyes narrowed in warning, "now stop bothering me and leave me alone."

"Fine. But where is Lord Vaati?"

Link gave a loud, audible sigh and waved his sword at the persistent monster. He was about to tell the wizzrobe to leave him alone again, but then he rolled his eyes and decided against it: he knew the wizzrobe wasn't going to leave him alone anyway, and it was pointless to keep going back and forth like this. Instead, he asked, "What are you doing here anyway?"

"You changed the subject," Thistle frowned. Then, he shrugged and giggled lightly. "I'm here to be the one to get rid of the hero and one of the greatest sorcerers of all time. My goal to be epic has never wavered, and I'm sure I'm pretty simple to understand. Unlike someone here, I believe I'm pretty straightforward with what I'm up to," he leaned forward with an accusatory tone.

"You're just a wizzrobe nutcase," Link muttered.

"Exactly! Easy, right? I also don't think I've introduced myself to you properly yet, hero. Last time we spoke I was still bound by Guild Laws so I wasn't allowed to have a name. My name is Thistle." The wizzrobe stuck out his hand. Link responded by holding out his sword threateningly. Thistle blinked, and then shook his head sadly yet mockingly. "Ah well."

"I'm leaving Vaati," Link said suddenly. "I'm done with him. If you have business with him then I want no part of it because we're done."

Thistle blinked. "Leaving? _!"_  He glanced over to the cabin as though wondering if Vaati really wasn't going to show up. "Does he know?"

"He'll find out in the morning if you'd let me go quietly."

"But you two were such adorable partners."

"… Well apparently not." Link's eye twitched a little at being described as 'adorable' by a wizzrobe.

"But what happened?"

"Nothing, all right?" Link growled, trying his best not to go and stab the trouble-making robe. He didn't want to cause a commotion that would cause the rest of the ship members to wake up and see what was wrong: if he didn't have to worry about that, he figured he would've given the wizzrobe a one-way trip to the sea floor. "And that's also exactly why I'm leaving, because  _nothing_  has changed between us."

"I'm confused…" Thistle hopped onto the ship rails and held his chin in a worried, puzzled expression. He wasn't really used to being in a position where he didn't know what was going on. Why would Link leave if nothing had changed between him and Lord Vaati. They had seemed pretty friendly, or at least on terms that were good enough that they would stick together until Thistle killed one of them. His confusion turning to impatience, impatience turning to frustration, and frustration finally turning to heated annoyance, Thistle snorted. "Keh, well I have business with Lord Vaati more than I do with you, so I'm going to wake him up whether you like it or not."

The Summoner Wizzrobe disappeared from his perch as he teleported away, and Link whirled around, trying to find him. He couldn't find him anywhere on the ship, and the nightscape wasn't helping him find the darned thing either. It was only when he heard a weird noise mixed in with a faint cackle from somewhere far away that he turned around and noticed something odd about the tower they had anchored at. It sounded like fast running water, except there lacked that distinct splashing sound that you hear when water was, well, running.

It was sand. Piles and piles of sand rained down onto the tower and with a freak distortion of space the tower itself melted and disappeared into thin air. The sand kept raining downwards until all that was left of where the tower once stood was a small island heap of pale yellow sand. The water around it became a muddy gold as the silt whirled in the water before it settled down. Somewhere high up in the air was a small purple dot that was undoubtedly the wizzrobe.

Thistle continued to laugh, and Link thought he was saying something but the noise of the sand still shifting along the newly formed island was too loud for him to make out anything comprehensible. He wondered what the monster was up to: he was pretty sure he didn't just summon a brand new beach so they could all get a tan in the morning.

A ripple struck through the air not unlike the ripples that appeared whenever they jumped time periods. Then, a massive, pincer jaw materialized in the space above the sand, followed by a manta-like wingspan of over fifteen feet. A trailing spiked tail whipped the air and the monster dove into the sand, disappearing out of sight.

"Molgera! Hey, Molgera up here!" Thistle called from up above. The sand stirred, and then bulged upwards just before it burst with the massive monster surging upwards. Its huge jaws continuously opened and shut in a fierce display of all-consuming teeth as it snaked its way up in the sky. The thing screeched like a series of unpleasant, discordant violin chords: unlike the other powerful monsters Link and Vaati had encountered so far, this one didn't seem like it was capable of Hylian speech.

"Alright, who's the idiot who gave Niko a violin?" Vaati muttered, rubbing his eyes as he walked outside of the ship groggily from being woken up. He first noticed Link standing a few feet away with a shocked, disappointed, and pained look on his face. Vaati frowned. "What? Why are you looking at me like that? And what are you doing out here? And what's with that awful noise?" The sorcerer's focus finally turned towards the tower that had vanished, and to the giant flying sand-worm that continued to shriek as it circled around the Summoner Wizzrobe. "And why is that thing there?" His eyes narrowed, "And why is  _he_ here?"

The worm continued to circle overhead, perhaps listening to orders from Thistle. Unlike the Helmaroc King, Molgera appeared to be much more obedient. Vaati huffed: it was probably too stupid to question authority. The sorcerer walked over to Link, and he was mildly surprised when Link quickly averted his gaze. Getting suspicious, Vaati confronted him while keeping an eye on the threatening monster overhead. "Why didn't you come tell me about the monster?"

Link refused to meet his gaze again, and this time Vaati was sure something was up. The mage felt his cheeks burn up in annoyance. He didn't have time to press him further, however, because the Molgera worm had stopped circling Thistle and was making its way directly towards the ship. Not wasting a single second, Vaati grabbed Link by the wrist and yanked him towards the edge. "Come on, fool, jump!" he snapped sharply as Link jerked away when he pulled him towards the edge of the ship. "I'm not going to have this ship jeopardized because of you: jump!" Vaati repeated with mounting impatience.

Link stopped pulling away when he sheepishly realized what Vaati wanted: Thistle was only after them, and if he and Vaati moved away from the ship, then Molgera wouldn't make a move to sink it. He quickly jumped into the water, followed by Vaati who whisked them to the sand island with a small whirlwind just before they hit the water. With a grating scream, Molgera veered off away from the pirate ship and towards them. Link and Vaati rolled away from the monster who collided with the sand dunes and disappeared under their feet if only for a moment.

Link looked towards the pirate ship, relieved that it was still in one piece. Had they been on it when Molgera was attacking, it would have easily split the ship in half for sure with its reckless charge. He was also ashamed that he hadn't realized the danger sooner; he'd been so concerned about getting away from Vaati and going off on his own that his first reaction to Vaati's urge to leave the ship was to resist. The sorcerer noticed the hero glancing at him.

"What?" He snorted with his usual twinge of sarcasm, "Did you think I'd be so heartless so as to let my underlings die?" With a small harrumph, Vaati turned his heel and began to cautiously edge around the sand to see where the huge worm might appear next. The question didn't hold much meaning to Vaati, and he never noticed the puzzled, slightly guilty look on Link's face behind him.

 _Well maybe I did_ , Link thought. He then noticed something squirming beneath his feet. Drawing his sword, he took a few steps backwards and before he knew it, he and Vaati were back to back, both looking uneasily at the sand that was shifting beneath them.

"Something's coming," Vaati noted, his eyes darting quickly.

" _Gyeeeee!"_

"Gnnn," Link dug his heel in the sand as he pushed back against a razor-toothed, three-eyed worm that had suddenly leapt towards him from the sand. The six-foot-long spiked worm gnawed at Link's sword for a few seconds before it dove back into the sand with a screech. "Careful, there're more!"

"I know that," Vaati gritted his teeth in a snarl as he was in the middle of fending off three more that had jumped at him.

The commotion had alerted the sleeping pirate crew, and now there was a small crowd gathered at the edge of the ship. They shouted in shock at the sandy island squirming with many large worms. They gasped when the ground beneath Link and Vaati suddenly became unstable and began to slide into a pit of quicksand.

"Captain!"

"Link!"

Link lost his footing and slid towards the bottom of the pit. "Aaah!" He exclaimed when gigantic jaws rose up from the center of the pit and threatened to crush him whole. Before he met his unpleasant fate, someone grabbed him by his wrist and unceremoniously pulled him a few feet up in the air. Vaati released him when they were safely away from the beckoning jaws of Molgera.

"You're heavy," Vaati muttered as he floated above the sand on a small whirlwind.

Link swatted away the sand that was whirling in the air from Vaati's wind. He spat sand out of his mouth, "Well you're physically weak," he retorted. Then, he added a little reluctantly, "thanks though."

Molgera growled, and then sunk into the sand again and out of sight. Vaati hovered over to where the monster had disappeared. "It's annoying it keeps hiding." As soon as Vaati was just a couple of yards away from where the monster was last seen, the sand bulged beneath his feet and exploded upwards, showering him with sand. "Argh," Vaati dodged Molgera that had shot upwards, flying into the sky in an attempt to catch him. "What a dumb monster," the sorcerer shook his hair of sand with an annoyed look on his face, "its movements are so obvious, I can do this all n-" Vaati whirled around suddenly when he noticed a presence behind him. He was surprised with a direct hit to his side by a small fireball.

"Hi Lord Vaati!" Thistle waved cheerily while Vaati swatted the flames away, scowling. "I realized I didn't really like just watching you two die. I like to be more involved, kehahaha!" The wizzrobe lazily floated out of the way of a crackling energy sphere Vaati had shot in retaliation. "You know, when I become Lord I'm going to be so great. I won't just sit around and let my underlings do my job – I'll be involved too!"

"You're obviously missing the point of being the greatest," Vaati snarled, upset by the singe in his tunic.

"But everyone would love me!" Thistle laughed loudly, and the sorcerer scowled even more from the annoying ring of the wizzrobe's voice. Then, the Summoner Wizzrobe suddenly disappeared causing the wind mage to stiffen in caution. Vaati managed to turn around in time to block a much more powerful blast of magic than the previous flame: while the last one had been to get his attention, this one had the intention to kill. Vaati could still feel the slight, crackling tremor that spread briefly through the Wind Waker and up along his right arm. "And everyone would fear me for being the one to defeat the greatest sorcerer of all time," Thistle's beaky face was so close Vaati could feel his whispery breath on his nose. Vaati shot backwards, and Thistle cackled at his reaction.

"Link! You take care of that sand-worm and I'll flatten this robe until he's iron-pressed!" The sorcerer called to Link below.

The blond nodded, and it seemed he'd already thought of something to defeat the huge monster – he already had his Hookshot in one hand and his sword in his other. "Got it!"

Thistle giggled, watching Link keeping a close eye on Molgera who was circling overhead, trying to find an opening of attack. "Aw, he's trying to fight it alone, how cute." He then turned to Vaati and charged up two spheres of condensed, raw magical power. "It's pretty incredible I can fight the famous Lord Vaati one-on-one now. Please watch and critique, I've been trying out some wind-based spells as well."

"The only criticism I have for you is that you're better off dead," Vaati growled. He brought up the Wind Waker to get ready to react to whatever attack Thistle threw at him. The wizzrobe shot energy spheres very similar to the ones he liked to use (blue ones formed from pressurized air that was pressed together with strong magic) towards him. He hadn't been lying when he'd said he'd been trying out wind-based sorcery.

They exchanged volleys, dodging the many blasts of deadly magic while trying to maneuver for an opening. Down below on the ship, the pirates continued to watch, worried for their captain and Link. Link seemed to be managing the Molgera relatively well by keeping it in check with the Hookshot: any time the monster got too close he would hook its long, sticky tongue and yank it, causing it to jerk away erratically. Vaati, however, appeared to be having trouble. Even though the Wind Waker gave him great freedom for wind-based magic, it was still somewhat awkward compared to using magic without it. And compared to Cyclok, Thistle, who had siphoned off magic from his six other wizzrobes in the past was much more difficult to handle. To make things worse, the annoying robe was learning how to copy the spells Vaati used against him so their repertoire was becoming increasingly similar. It put Vaati at a disadvantage especially since he had a handicap.

"We have to help the captain!" Mako exclaimed. Then, there was a small hush when the same unspoken thought crossed everyone's minds. Vaati had never been particularly nice to any of the crew, and they had all been following him as captain because they'd had no other choice with the absence of Tetra. Why should they help him?

"What was that, Niko?" Senza asked when he barely heard the smaller pirate mumble something.

"I actually saw him…" Niko repeated softly. He had his eyes toward the ground. "Before that worm attacked. I snuck out to see where Link was, and I saw him. He left the ship so we wouldn't be in danger." Niko looked over the edge of the ship towards Link who was still fighting against Molgera. The pirate thought he knew why Link was so torn about his situation now: Vaati's actions didn't seem to match up sometimes. "I thought he didn't care about what happened to us at all."

More silence. Finally after a few minutes, Gonzo spoke up. "All right, so the captain's mean and sometimes pretty heartless. I think we all get that. Lots of times I wished Miss Tetra were here instead of him." He started to walk down to where the cannons were on the ship. "But as a captain he's taken care of the crew: when we went to the Forsaken Fortress, it was the captain who went. When Cyclok attacked us, it was the captain who kept the ship safe. And again, he's kept the crew out of danger from that worm. I don't care what kind of an asshole he is, he's done his job as captain, yeah? So let's support him as his crew."

"Gonzo's just glad he didn't have to fight any monsters because he'd pee his pants," Mako observed, adjusting his glasses. Still, he followed Gonzo towards the powder room while dodging the larger pirate's angry fists. "I agree. Let's give him fire support."

"Me too!"

"Yeah count me in!"

"Let's shoot that robe out of the sky!"

Half of the pirates ran towards the cannons to set them up, while a few remained on the top deck to keep an eye out on the battle. Mako finished setting the cannonballs in place and waited for Gonzo's signal to light the fuse. When the bigger man still didn't give the signal after a few long seconds, Mako poked him. "Well, are we going to fire or what?" He sensed something was wrong when, instead of giving him a snippy retort about how he was taking his time getting his aim right or  _something_ , Gonzo sat back with his eyes wide in horror.

"We… we can't shoot."

"Why not? _!"_  Mako demanded.

"We can't… he'll die."

"What are you talking about?" Mako peered out of the cannon window to look outside. What he saw left him at a loss for words. "Oh dear goddesses… what do we do now?"

High up in the air, high enough that anyone who dropped from that height wouldn't survive the fall, were Thistle and Vaati nearly face to face. Vaati appeared to be held up in suspension not by his own spells, but by the wizzrobe's as he had a frustrated expression on his face, almost as though he wanted to scream. The sorcerer's hands were also outstretched like he was pinned to a crucifix.

What was more alarming, however, was the fact that both of Vaati's hands were completely empty. The Wind Waker was gone from his grasp, and was instead in the possession of Thistle who was holding it up gleefully.

"If we shoot that bird, then the captain will fall," Gonzo hung his head, "and then he's as good as dead."

"So…"

"So we can't do anything."

Mako turned back to where their captain was hanging at the enemy's mercy. "Oh…" he finally managed hoarsely. All of the pirates' previous energy to help turned to one of defeat: there was nothing they could do but watch and pray that things would be okay. No one dared to mention that, if they didn't shoot the bird, then the captain would most likely die then as well.

There was no other option but for the captain to die.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Link stood paralyzed on the sand below. The Molgera was in the middle of creating another quicksand pit nearby, but Link didn't care at the moment. His sword deflected two of the smaller worms that jumped out at him, but all the while he kept his gaze glued to the two figures many feet up in the air, silhouetted by the moon. He still remembered that defining moment when Thistle had feinted an attack, warped just to the right of Vaati in his blind spot where the sorcerer's bangs obscured his vision, and melted the Wind Waker away from the wind mage's hands. It had probably been the same exact spell the Render used to warp and summon objects.

From there it had been over. Vaati had turned around only to see the Wind Waker in the grinning wizzrobe's hands, and the vortex that kept him up had dwindled until there was only a breeze left. He'd fallen a couple of feet, helpless, until Thistle struck him with another spell that left him crucified in midair.

Link could do nothing. There was nothing he could do to help.

"Vaati," Link whispered, "what are you going to do?"


	45. To Defy Fate

Two shadows silhouetted by the full moon hung in midair high above the sandy island below. The horrified spectators below could only watch the events unfold, helpless to do anything to change the situation. Thistle waved the delicate silver baton in front of his face appreciatively, while Vaati hung on an invisible crucifix in front of him. "A neat trick you came up with: this baton can unlock any and all of your wind-based-spells? Honestly I was a little surprised by how much fight you gave me." The wizzrobe snickered, tossing the Wind Waker over his shoulder as he were throwing it away, and he laughed even more when Vaati's eyes widened in panic. "Ahahaha! Fooled you! See? It's back in my hands," he teased, warping the falling Wind Waker back to his fingers.

Vaati turned away with a scowl. He couldn't believe he'd let himself get into this situation. He'd underestimated the wizzrobe, especially after that ridiculously easy victory against Cyclok. Of course Thistle, who knew about his whole situation, would easily be able to pinpoint Vaati's weakness: that wizzrobe knew that without the Wind Waker, Vaati couldn't do anything.

"You underestimated me, didn't you Lord Vaati." Thistle continued to look at him with his usual big, goofy grin, but that didn't hide the accusatory tone in his voice. "Of course you would," the wizzrobe continued, "it's not your fault though, I'm sure everyone would make that same mistake. I'm a wizzrobe! I'll never be worse than a wizzrobe, and I'll never be better than a wizzrobe. I'm kind of stuck in this wizzrobe spot, you see, because of that same arrogance that assumes I'll never be anything else."

The renegade crossed his arms and leaned back into an invisible chair in midair, adjusting himself in a more comfortable position. He scratched his beak a bit as though something were bothering him, like an itch, and then turned to the helplessly caught Sorcerer of Winds for approval. "I feel like going on a rant. Do you mind if I do, Lord Vaati?"

"Do I have a choice?" the sorcerer glared.

"Not really. I feel like ranting, and you're just conveniently in front of me with no choice but to listen!" There was another burst of giggles, but this time there was an annoyed edge to Thistle's voice. "Anyways, it's that idea of me being a lowly wizzrobe that caused you to underestimate me, and while it's understandable, honestly I'm sick of it. And now look at you. You thought you could stand against me with this baton alone, but all it took was for me to take it away and you're completely at my mercy. How's that for a role change? Vaati, the infamous Sorcerer of Winds at the mercy of one,  _one_ , Summoner Wizzrobe. Isn't it silly? Can you imagine all the other monsters laughing? I sure can. It's something that's not supposed to happen. It can't happen. It's impossible. A lower tier monster shouldn't even be in a position to be able to do that, nope."

Thistle glanced down at Link still fighting Molgera below, and the boy still looked a little distracted by what was going on above. "Not even the hero down there can help you right now. Well, I doubt he'll come to your help even if he could." The wizzrobe scratched his beak again, his itch coming back, and then noticed Vaati giving him a puzzled look instead of the scowl from below. "Surprised?" He laughed softly, "He told me he was leaving you to go off on his own. He looked pretty fed up with you, to be honest. Maybe you snored too loudly in your sleep? Kehahaha! Oh, maybe I should have kept my mouth shut until he told you about your breakup himself? Ah well, you'll get over it. Because both of you will be dead soon, so you won't have time mulling over what went wrong between you two, kehahaha! When you're dead, I'll take credit for defeating not only the greatest sorcerer of all time, but the hero himself! A feat not even the King of Darkness ever succeeded in achieving! Then everyone would take me seriously, you hear? Everyone!"

Thistle suddenly shot a powerful blast at Vaati. It hit him squarely in the chest, and Vaati gave a shout of pain. Thistle immediately warped in front of the sorcerer so that their noses were almost touching. The wizzrobe grabbed Vaati by the throat, forcing him to look at him. "Even the Helmaroc King, who  _I_  summoned by the way, wouldn't listen to me. No one listens when you're just a silly, measly, insignificant creature not worth anything more than a single grain of sand on a beach. The only reason that bird ever listened to you was because he knew you were more powerful than him, am I right?"

" _Shut up!_ " Vaati hissed.

Thistle let him go, shoving him backwards. "Oh, I struck a nerve, it seems. Let me guess, you ran into him and he didn't listen to you, did he? Ah, I'm right again! There are no such things as alliances just because people like each other, in our world. The only thing that matters is your hierarchy. I could be the best sorcerer in the world, but no one would ever,  _EVER_ , listen to what I have to say because I'm just a puny, worthless wizzrobe. You learned that first hand recently, didn't you? I bet you were shocked when the one you thought you could turn to turned against you." Thistle's face contorted into a snarl, "Because you were weak! Worthless! Insignificant without this baton you've come to rely so heavily on!" he shot a volley of magic with every exclamation, barely giving Vaati any time to recover from the damage, "Well guess what?" He gave another merciless shot, chipping away at Vaati's stamina, "That's the feeling I've lived with, every single day of my miserable life, and the only way we wizzrobes manage to keep going is to surrender our idea of ever having an identity, or remain an individual and learn to laugh it all away! Why do you think the renegades gain the reputation for being crazy? _!_ " Thistle took a pause in his reckless onslaught at Vaati, whose limbs were shaking both in frustration and injury, to laugh madly, "Isn't it obvious? _!_  Because we  _ARE!_   _Kehahahaha – Aaaaahahaha you thought there was another reason for a moment didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?_ "

"Oh, and it gets even better, oh yes. Nothing's going to change the fact that I'm a wizzrobe: I'll never be welcomed into the ranks of those titans in the Ore class. I'll always be looked down upon, trodden, used and then disposed," Thistle continued much calmly after he abruptly stopped laughing. He frowned a little and scratched his beak again, annoyed by some itch that had been bothering him since some time from the start of the fight. "Of course I'm mostly just repeating things you already know, but I bet nobody ever dared to say everything I've said directly to your face since you've always been the one looking down from the top. You never personally dealt with the ones scrubbing away at the bottom of the tier unless you were punishing them. Please stop me if I'm wrong."

Thistle spun the somewhat limp, heavily damaged sorcerer in the air as though to examine him. The sorcerer didn't really have the energy to say anything to his captor. "You're just as worthless as any creature now," Thistle observed coldly. "Just look at you. Pathetic. But your name still carries a lot of weight in value, and no matter what happens, that will never change." He lifted his arm, charging a bright, crackling spear aimed to pierce through the infamous sorcerer in one clean hit. "I'm going to take advantage of that now, Lord Vaati, I hope you don't mind too terribly."

Vaati brought his head up. "Are you done ranting now?" he asked acerbically. However, his glare wasn't as intense as they could have been. They were slightly blank and almost emotionless, as though he were watching an old memory. He never really noticed until now, how familiar Thistle's words were...

Thistle grinned, and then said with a little pity in his voice, now a bit grating from his outburst, "What a shitty world we live in, eh, Lord Vaati? A world where Fate dictates everything… I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. From the moment you exist, the powers that be have a plan for you. Not even the hero can escape it. Not even you. Not even me…"

The deadly spear of light was nearly done charging. "But I'll destroy destiny. Watch me. I'm going to do it, right here, right now. Goodbye." Thistle aimed, making sure his center was perfectly in line with the center of Vaati's forehead. Just as he was about to fire, the wizzrobe suddenly jerked backwards with a shout. "Ah! No! No, what is this? _!"_  The spear went flying up into the sky, completely off mark as Thistle suddenly clawed at his right arm fervently. "Stop! What is this, stop!"

Meanwhile, Vaati, who had been suspended in midair with the wizzrobe's magic, suddenly found himself falling towards the ground with increasing speed. It appeared Thistle had completely taken his attention off of the sorcerer to attend to his arm, terminating the spell that held him in the air. He heard a shout from the decks of the pirate ship below telling him to watch out, and he smirked sourly.

_Watch out? Watch what? Watch every detail of the ground before I splatter across it in a bloody mess?_

Just before he hit the ground, however, he heard a hurried flutter of wings and someone swooped him off into the air. Vaati looked up to see a person of a winged race he wasn't familiar with flying him to safety. "I'm glad we got here in time! Don't worry, Valoo will take care of the rest!"

 _Valoo?_ Vaati wondered. He didn't have to wonder for long when an earsplitting roar reverberated through the air and a flash of fire lit up the dark night sky. An enormous, feathered red dragon shot through the sky and rammed into the large sand worm that had flown out of the sand to escape the fire.  _Oh great. Even more dragons. I really love dragons,_  the sorcerer frowned, thinking back on his past experiences with Argorok and Opal. However, he was a little relieved he had been able to thwart death once again.

Come to think of it, what was going on with that goddesses awful wizzrobe?

Vaati looked around, and he caught a glimpse of the renegade amidst the chaos of the two behemoths fighting in the air. The sorcerer squinted to get a better view, and then his eyes widened at what he saw: there was a small glimmer along the wizzrobe's right arm that the monster was now clawing at furiously. A similar glimmer ran along his beak where Thistle had been scratching earlier.

"So the myths were true… the Light of Naveen…" Vaati whispered to himself, somewhat in awe, and somewhat in pity. "The fool… he's as good as done."

The Light of Naveen was something he'd only ever read about in one of Ezlo's many books, and even then it had sounded like it was more of a myth. It was a terrible syndrome, and it manifested itself only in magic users. It was characterized by the mage's body cracking away until it finally disintegrated in a white light, which was thought to be unstable spells reacting together destructively within the mage himself. When he'd read it, it had been mentioned in a mythological story of a sorceress named Naveen, who had attempted to master every single elemental spell known at the time. The different elemental spells had proven to be incompatible with each other, or at least that was how the theory went, and had eventually destroyed the sorceress inside out. Vaati had always figured it had been a tale told to apprentices to teach them not to attempt more than one elemental type before they mastered it completely – he never realized the story actually had any truth to it.

After all, hardly any sages, even the most skilled ones, ever managed to master one elemental type so well that they moved on to more. Even two was rare, and three in some special cases. Four was unheard of. He never thought he'd actually see the Light of Naveen with his own eyes.

"When the Light of Naveen shines brightly, only the darkness awaits you," Vaati quoted the story. Once the symptoms of light escaping from cracks across your skin manifested, there was no cure for it. You could try speeding up the process to quicken your death by casting more spells, but that was all you could do. Vaati remembered Thistle's mention of inescapable Fate. "Looks like you can't destroy destiny after all," he thought bitterly. "And here I was somewhat curious if you could do it. But no, we have to resign ourselves to our fates, it seems…"

Even though Thistle had been very close to killing him moments before, and even though he had said all of those infuriating things to him, the scene that played out made him feel a little sorry for him regardless.

Since Link had also been taken to the air by one of the bird-people to safety, the dragon Valoo wasn't holding back in fighting Molgera. It bit its wing, tearing pieces of it off with a gruesome crunch. This caused the worm to whip its tail in agony, and when the dragon finally let go, it screeched and attempted to fly back towards its master. Unfortunately its damaged wing made it fly erratically, and instead of flying around Thistle it careened directly towards the distressed wizzrobe. Thistle noticed too late, and Molgera smashed into him full force. Thistle shrieked with a voice Vaati hadn't heard him make before as the sand-worm's teeth crushed into him, sending him towards the dark ocean water. With a final blast of fire, Valoo sent them to the ocean depths engulfed in flames.

And it was over, just like that. The worm and the wizzrobe disappeared beneath the waves. Vaati watched until the bubbles were gone.

"They won't bother you again," the bird-man holding him mentioned, noticing him watching the bubbles.

Vaati gave a small nod, thinking. That was how it ends for the renegade, huh? It was a poignantly sad truth, what the wizzrobe had said. He was never worse than a wizzrobe, and he was never better. In the end, he had an unmemorable demise, which no one would remember. No one would talk about. He just became another monster that had been unceremoniously disposed of. Vaati sighed, thinking of his own expectations and his own destiny that was no doubt already written for him. It was a shitty world all right.

"Here, I'll set you down on the island where it's safe now. Lord Valoo would like to speak with you, actually."

He was set down on the ground in front of where the great dragon had landed. Link was already there, and the boy appeared to be purposely ignoring him with his back turned slightly away with an aura that said he was reluctant to make conversation. Link also didn't seem to want to meet the gaze of the other pirates either, who had gathered along the side of the ship to see what was going on.

Vaati glanced at the birdmen who had all landed, six of them, in a circle around them and then at the dragon who regarded them with deep, noisy breaths. He felt slightly uneasy before the dragon's judgmental gaze towards him and the fact that strangers surrounded him while he was unarmed, but even so he had something else that was bothering him even more.

He stormed towards Link, slightly limping because of the damage from Thistle's attacks. When Link averted his gaze, the sorcerer forcefully grabbed him by the shoulders and made him turn towards him. "Look at me, dammit!" he snapped, causing the other boy to look at him with a startled expression, "You were up to something before that idiot robe attacked us, and you're not telling me what. I demand that you tell me," he ordered sharply. When Link hesitated and looked to the side with a somewhat annoyed face, Vaati's blood boiled. "That wizzrobe," he began quietly, "said that you were planning to leave, alone. Is that true?"

Link hesitated, and he momentarily shot quick glances towards the pirates on the ship, the dragon waiting politely for their conversation to finish, and also his boots. He appeared uncertain, as though he wasn't sure he should say the words he had been meaning to say.

After a few seconds, Link's expression finally hardened. He shoved away Vaati's hands and gave him a long, hard look.

"Yeah," he said, defiantly now, "it's true."

XXXXXXXXXX

Miles under the sea below the confrontation of Link and Vaati, there was the ancient castle town of Hyrule. It should have been flooded, but somehow there was a space of air surrounding the vicinity. A few unlucky fish that had wandered past the water and into the air bubble flopped on the ground, but besides that nearly everything in Hyrule remained intact from what it had been in the past.

Somewhere in the outskirts of the castle where Hyrule fields began, a battered little figure lay sprawled on the grass. He was soaked with salt water, and had severe wounds from the teeth of a very large monster. Beside him was the monster in question, and Molgera lay twisted like a beached animal after a severe storm.

Just barely conscious, Thistle's eyes fluttered to remain open. He could see his hand hanging limp in front of his face in the grass, and he was more than slightly worried by what he saw. Bits and pieces of him were breaking like a cracked vase, and instead of holes there was white light seeping out. Thistle would've laughed if he weren't so tired. He definitely overdid it this time: apparently the Guild knew what it was talking about when it had outlawed multiple spell types. Too bad they were all gone to be able to gloat over their victory now. How was he supposed to know one really  _did_  'explode' when they tried too many things? It's not like anyone ever demonstrated it to him, geeze. He was a visual learner! The Guild should've been more responsible and given him a visual demonstration. And now look, it looked like he had already lost a finger to the phenomenon. How was he supposed to tie shoes now? Huh?

It didn't hurt, really. It was just kind of itchy, like a mild sunburn. He figured he would watch it with curiosity if he'd had the energy to. Being run over in midair by a giant sandworm would make anyone exhausted.

He was just going to rest here for a little. Just for a little while.

Maybe when he woke up, whatever was destroying him would go away.

He really wished it would.

After all, how else was he going to defeat Lord Vaati, Link, and Lord Ganon?

How else was he going to win against that annoying thing called Fate?


	46. Sky Spirit Valoo

"What did you say?"

Though Vaati's eyes narrowed, his expression was rather muddled and hard to read when he heard Link's declaration to leave the ship and set off on his own. Link appeared to be trying his best to remain defiant.

"I thought we should part ways, so I was just about to leave," Link repeated. He kind of wished the enormous dragon, the bird-people, and the other pirates weren't gathered around, either gawking at him in surprise or staring him down intently like he didn't know what he was talking about. It made him feel uneasy, and worst of all made him doubt his conviction to leave. The huge dragon was probably the worst second to Vaati, since he thought it shot him a look of disagreement, if only for a moment.

Vaati obviously thought it was the dumbest idea ever. "Leave? _!_ " He threw his arms up in the air. "What are you even thinking? Obviously nothing, since you were actually about to go through with it! You know that's not possible at this point – idiot, if you wanted to leave you should've left earlier." Now the Wind Mage appeared positively furious, and his outburst only made Link even more impatient. Vaati continued, angry and irritated as though he were talking to the dumbest person on the planet, "We're both going to the same place, don't you get it? Even if you left now we probably would've run into each other within a few days at the latest! You're saying you want to freaking leave when we're almost at the end? Stupid!"

And that was just about the last number of times Link was going tolerate being called some variation of 'idiot.' Partly fueled by Vaati's outburst and partly fueled by the smidgen of guilt from recognizing that, yeah, he probably had been acting irrationally, Link blew up. "I couldn't take it anymore, okay? _!_ Ever since we came back from the Forsaken Fortress you've been impossible to work with!I don't care even if I have to run into you again, I just had to leave! I worked best on my own anyway! I've always worked best alone!"

Vaati took a step back, with his brows knitted together. He had to admit he was slightly,  _slightly_  surprised that Link seemed like he was at the end of his line with him, because it had always been the case that Link would try to think they could get along even with all the horrible things Vaati threw at him. The sorcerer was actually relieved Link finally seemed to have gotten the point that they were  _not_ friendlies, but at the same time this presented some problems.

Vaati sighed in annoyance. Sometimes he really needed to think about consequences. He never actually thought he'd succeed in pushing Link this far. It was great, but now…

"You work best alone? Don't make me laugh. And how many times have I saved your sorry ass while we were working together?" he shot huffily. He gave a self-satisfied, sour sneer when his comment managed to get Link to snap his mouth shut. "I don't like this situation any more than you, but we have a mutually beneficial relationship right now, understand? And yes, this does benefit me even though I have this baton now, believe it or not," he added, his voice so bitter it would have made even lemons shrivel from the sourness. "I… look, I'm glad you finally got it through that thick skull of yours that neither of us like this situation. But at the same time, I think… I… goddesses damn it I hate having to explain this to you but we have to work together until we defeat Ganondorf." Vaati twirled the Wind Waker in his hand agitatedly, much like he used to do with the Gale Boomerang when he was feeling antsy. He turned away, scowling. After all, what had been the point of letting Helmaroc die if it wasn't to let Link beat Ganondorf? "I thought I could be as good as I used to be with the Wind Waker, but obviously it's not that great and… I don't want to make a fool of myself thinking I can beat Ganondorf this way." He paused, looking visibly upset with himself. It took him a while to finally admit his near-defeat against Thistle, "That fight with the Wizzrobe wasn't good at all. And obviously your survivability would be better with me around during the fight with that Gerudo, and as much as I hate you I hate Ganondorf more."

Link looked down towards his feet, and said nothing. A part of him knew he was being a stubborn child about the issue, since he didn't want to acknowledge that what Vaati was saying made sense. He didn't want him to make sense: Vaati wasn't thinking about what they would have to deal with afterwards… the inevitable fight… one of them had to die. Why couldn't Vaati see that? Link shook his head. It was probably because that wasn't a problem for Vaati. The sorcerer didn't care. He wouldn't have any qualms about killing him heartlessly anyway, according to all of his antagonistic actions since he'd figured out how to use the Wind Waker.

Link's train of thought was interrupted by a ground-shaking rumble of a rolling growl from somewhere just above his head. A faint warmth hit his cheeks as small flames licked the side of Valoo's fangs. " _I must interrupt you two, but I have urgent business to discuss_."

Link and Vaati turned their attention towards the great red dragon that was sitting with them on the island of sand. They both blinked up in surprise, momentarily having forgotten why the dragon and the bird-people were with them. It was a fairly large dragon, much larger than Argorok had been, and although it seemed like it could be considered friendly that didn't stop it from giving both of them a stern gaze. " _It pertains to your destination, as well as the Waker of Winds_ ," the dragon growled. Then, without any more explanation, it gave a few powerful flaps with its feathered wings and took off.

Vaati watched the retreating dragon flatly while a hubbub arose between the pirates on the ship. "I don't have time for this," he said finally, and was about to go back and retire to the pirate ship when he was stopped by one of the bird-people, a tall man with a hooked hawk beak for a nose and eyes as keen as a raptor's. He held a spear in one hand, and although he didn't look like he would use it against him, there was a certain tension that suggested that resorting to force was an option if it came down to it.

"Lord Valoo has summoned you for audience at Dragon Roost Island. Please let us escort you there."

"Right, and who does that bloated lizard think he is to tell me what to do? You heard me, I don't have time for this," Vaati snapped, clearly irritated. There was a stir amongst the rest of the bird-people, four of them in total, and the feathery hair on the one in front of Vaati bristled in offense.

"That  _lizard_  is the Sky Spirit and patron deity of the Rito," the man spoke slowly with all the patience he had, "and it would be wise to listen to what he has to say. He didn't come all the way out here in the middle of the night for nothing. He was well aware of your predicament and came to your aid: I suggest you at least respectfully return the favor of meeting him at Dragon Roost."

"A Spirit? Then no wonder he had to be all cryptic about everything. It would save everyone a whole lot of time if spirits just got to the point, but of course they have to be indirect," Vaati muttered between his teeth. He reluctantly made his way to the ship, making his annoyance very clear by the nasty glares he shot to any of the Rito he passed on his way. He couldn't help it, of course he was annoyed. He was just a step closer to finally reaching Hyrule and once again he was going to have to go on a detour to get there. He'd been so close! By dawn the next morning they probably would've been there!

When the sorcerer got back on the ship, the pirate crew surrounded him, asking if he was okay tentatively. They asked hesitantly, worried that they would offend him but at the same time sincerely wanting to know more about what had happened. He waved them away, gruffly ordering them to go ready the ship for departure to follow the Rito escorts to Dragon Roost. He also noticed that one pirate had separated himself from the crowd and run off to the boy in the green tunic instead. Link came on board with the help of a Rito, and though he exchanged a few words of consolation with the anxious little pirate he didn't seem too enthused about talking to anyone.

Vaati eyed him coolly. "And after all that dramatic talk about leaving, you still end up tagging along."

"It's not like I have a choice right now," Link mumbled.

"See what I mean? We're stuck together whether we like it or not."

The breeze changed towards the direction of Dragon Roost Island, and the ship lurched forward towards their new destination.

XXXXXXXXX

They arrived at the island just after dawn, and the red-orange glow of the early sun hit the rocky ledges. It was a fairly jagged island, and rather vertical since most of the island was part of a mountain. Everyone was yawning; no one had really gotten the chance to fall asleep last night because of the fight with Thistle and Molgera. As they approached the island, they could see the great dragon Valoo perched at its peak and puffing smoke rings in the sky. He gave the ship a quick glance before he went back to observing the horizon.

Vaati nodded to the Rito by the name of Basht standing next to him. "Was there a reason why we had to go meet your Lord Valoo here instead of where we were?" He asked with a little edge in his voice.

The Rito guard gave him a reserved answer, ignoring the annoyance in the sorcerer's tone. "Lord Valoo doesn't explain everything to us, but we have trusted he knows what is best for us." The guard didn't elaborate any further, indicating that Vaati should just be quiet and listen to what the dragon wanted.

Not satisfied in the least and grumpy from fatigue, Vaati shot an irritated look when he caught the dragon's eye again. Then, he turned to Basht once again. "Well then I hope we're allowed to see him as soon as we've docked. I'd rather get this over with as soon as possible so I can get back to my own business."

An incredibly patient guard, Basht simply nodded under the sorcerer's rude tone. He agreed smoothly, "Of course. That also falls with Lord Valoo's wishes as well, since he has indicated he wanted to speak with you as soon as possible and without delay."

Basht and his identical twin brother Bisht led them towards the main entrance to the Rito stronghold as soon as they had docked their ship. The pirates remained on watch-duty and also to get some rest, while Link and Vaati departed towards the island. As soon as they arrived by the entrance that led deep inside the mountain wall, Link and Vaati were greeted by a fierce, hawk-nosed Rito. "Link! It's nice to see you again," he cried, putting away some mail he had just been about to deliver. Link could see a smile on the man's face even though half of his features were full of sharp beak. Vaati rolled his eyes, tired of explaining how Link didn't know a thing about the present future.

"Link has amnesia," he stated as shortly as he could. He was too tired to bother with details, so he just left it at that even though the Rito man obviously wanted to know more. Link added a few more details about his situation to cover what Vaati had mentioned, and in a few minutes the smile on the man's face fell and turned into a look of disappointment.

"Link, I hope you recover. The great Sky Spirit Valoo has requested an audience with you." He motioned for them to follow him inside, where even more Rito were waiting for them, watching them approach with interest. "Something strange is happening around the sea, but Valoo isn't telling us anything – not even to Medli. I wonder if your memory loss is also part of these unusual circumstances…"

 _More than you know,_ Link thought glumly.

"You mean the reappearance of monsters?" Vaati asked, bored. He found nothing weird about it since he and Link already knew they were all because of Thistle and Opal.

"Yes. We even heard the Helmaroc King had returned, though I hope that had only been a nasty rumor," the Rito continued. He then gave Vaati a curious glance. "Can I ask who you might be? I am Quill. I work as a postman from Dragon Roost Island, and I must say I've never seen you with Link or the pirates before."

"I'm the current captain of the pirate ship, Vaati," the sorcerer replied shortly. He wasn't in the mood for conversation, and especially not the topic about where he came from.

Quill rubbed the tip of his beak with a winged hand. "Current captain? What happened to the pointy-eared girl who used to run the ship? Was her name Tetra?"

By this time, they had reached the group of Ritos waiting for them. One of them appeared to be the chief as he held himself with authority. He stepped forward as they approached, and Quill respectfully stepped aside. "It is a pleasure to see you again, Link, and it would be wonderful if we could all talk at length, but unfortunately it seems we have no time for such leisure," he said with a nod to dismiss Quill. Link was grateful he wasn't going to have to go into detail about the problem with Tetra, though at the same time he wondered about the urgent matters the Rito Chieftain talked about. The man continued, "Valoo has requested that you meet him immediately: he had been so determined that he had flown out to find you himself, and that is not something that occurs often. Medli here will be your translator," he signaled a cute young Rito girl to step forward. She held a lyre to her chest protectively and she shuffled forward, her blue dress swaying softly.

Medli squirmed shyly and talked with her eyes on the floor. "Um. Hi again, Link." For some reason, she appeared a little flustered by the whole situation and kept stealing glances over at Vaati. The prince of the Ritos, Komali, gave Medli a gentle nudge. "Come on, Medli. Valoo's waiting for Link."

The Rito girl looked up sharply, surprising everyone. "Actually, I'm not sure if it's Link Valoo wants to see anymore," she explained hurriedly, "he said he urgently needed to see the Waker of Winds, and that title belonged to Link but…" she glanced uncertainly at the Wind Waker in Vaati's hand, "Valoo can be a bit vague at times."

Vaati's ears pricked as he noticed the girl looking at his Wind Waker. His sense of foreboding increased when he saw everyone looking at him. "What?"

The chief stepped forward and put a hand on Medli's shoulders. "Perhaps this gentleman should go see the great Valoo with Link." Link shrugged nonchalantly, with no commitment either way. This whole thing was a chore to him now: if it meant they could finally get to Hyrule at the end of it then he didn't really care. "It's settled then. Medli, lead them safely to Valoo," the chief declared. The number of people left standing in the stone hall dwindled as they figured most of the eventfulness of the two's arrival had gone, and they went back to attend their own business. Link began to talk to Medli apologetically about not really remembering if he had met her earlier or not, while Vaati brooded by himself to the side. He was piecing together the dragon's guarded behavior towards him, as well as what he had just heard from the Rito girl about the summons potentially being directed at  _him_  rather than Link. His conclusion about the dragon left him preoccupied.

_Well, Valoo. Did you figure out who I am?_

XXXXXXXXXX

Medli led them outside so they could see where they were going to go. They stood on a wooden balcony and looked up the mountain crag where the peak was covered by a thick layer of swirling clouds. The girl shielded her eyes from the sun that reflected off of them. "The top of the mountain is obscured by clouds, but Valoo is up there," she explained, "It would be a bit faster if you were able to fly, but because you can't, we're going to have to climb."

Link blanched, thinking about the intense climb that awaited them. "Wow… I guess we have a long climb."

There was an audible huff, and Medli and Link turned their heads to the mage who had his arms crossed indignantly. "We won't have to climb." He flicked the Wind Waker lazily, and before they knew what was going on a cyclone swept them up from under their feet. They quickly moved up towards the top of the mountain as the cyclone picked up speed.

When they finally reached the top of the mountain, Link carefully let go of his hat. He wondered why Vaati's hat always managed to stay on his head even in the most extreme winds, while his always wanted to fly off elsewhere. Medli, meanwhile, was gaping at Vaati, flabbergasted. She'd never seen Link do anything like what the wind mage had done when he had commanded the Wind Waker. Vaati was the only one unfazed, and he was in the middle of gauging whether or not he thought Medli was cute or not. The various thoughts of the threesome were interrupted by a rumbling growl.

" _O Hero of Legend, O Waker of Winds, I have summoned you."_ The great dragon twisted its slender red neck to face them. It was difficult to tell what its expression was as it kept its blank reptilian stare. Vaati immediately snapped to attention, turning away from Medli to look at the dragon before him.

Vaati sounded agitated when he addressed Valoo. "Did you summon Link or did you summon me? If you have no business with me I'm going to leave."

Medli gasped, "You can understand him?" No one was supposed to know the ancient language besides her and the spirits. Her thoughts were confirmed when, instead of waiting for her to translate for him, the Sky Spirit continued on to speak directly to Vaati.

" _Not so fast, O sorcerer of the ages. I summoned you both, but it is more important that I speak to you than to the Hero."_ A puff of smoke rose from between the dragon's jaws, and it snarled. _"Vaati, Sorcerer of Winds, you have disappeared from the histories of the people, but the spirits will never forget the crimes you have committed. Do not think you will get away with your evil so easily."_

"So is that it? Is that why you wanted to see me so urgently before I left, to smite me down for something that happened a couple of thousand years ago?" Vaati's smirk barely hid his inner panic.  _Damn._


	47. The Nightmare, Dethl

It was a tense moment now that Vaati's identity had been completely revealed to a very powerful spirit. If Valoo decided Vaati deserved to be punished right this minute, the sorcerer wasn't sure how well he would be able to defend himself. Spirits, although not exactly god status, were powerful in their own right. The three visitors all stood completely still, afraid to make any move at all. Vaati's smirk was becoming strained as the Sky Spirit continued to watch him with his threatening gaze. Just before Vaati's plastered smirk was about to crack and fall to pieces, the dragon turned its head away.

" _That was just a warning. It is true that we spirits will never forget, but we are also known to give chances."_ The dragon rumbled. The spirit's comments reminded Vaati how the spirits he and Link had encountered at the Temple of Time had also recognized him before – he should have expected this one to know about him as well. Vaati was as still as his stone statues as the dragon arched its neck to the sky and puffed a smoke ring. " _Redemption. That concept does exist, even for demons such as you. I have heard of your involvement with the defeat of the Helmaroc King, and you appear to have assisted the Hero as well for the time being. Zephos has even taken a liking to you, it seems."_

Vaati's smirk finally cracked into a cackle as relief swept over him. Even though he would have fought if it had come down to it, he really preferred not to right after the fight with Thistle and Molgera earlier. He regained his composure and confronted the dragon somewhat haughtily. "Ha. Well then, why did we have to come here for? I hope it wasn't just to listen to you tell me how disappointed you are about my life choices." He ignored Medli who appeared positively offended that he was speaking to Lord Valoo in such a rude manner.

The dragon huffed, a lick of fire shooting out from between his teeth. " _Definitely not. I have called you here because there are matters to attend to before you and the hero head off to the Sacred City of Hyrule. It lies protected beneath the ocean for a good reason, and it is precisely so that creatures of Dark won't tarnish it more than they already have. Creatures, perhaps like you,"_ Valoo ended with a warning growl.  _"We do not trust you, Sorcerer of Winds. Should you prove your worth to have a noble soul, then we may find it in our hearts to open the way to Hyrule."_

Vaati sneered, unimpressed. "What's to stop me from going there without the Spirits' approval? I already know how to get there by a map I've procured."

" _Because I will send the force of a thousand men to destroy you before you even reach within a mile of Hyrule!"_  Valoo roared. Vaati's composure collapsed and he winced from the dragon's sudden reaction. Teeth bared, Valoo dared Vaati to challenge him further. Even Link and Medli, who had nothing to do with the spirit's outburst, took a few steps back just in case…

Recoiling, Vaati accepted his loss. "Oh very well," he sighed, managing to slip in a hint of annoyance. "It sounds like a waste of time, but I'll do it if it'll get me to Hyrule without issue. What do I have to do, go beat up a dungeon boss? Help some screaming people terrorized by a monster that suddenly and inexplicably appeared? Be best buddies with Link, hold hands, and make daisy chains?" he asked, heavy sarcasm positively dripping from his voice.

" _Let the winds take you to where you need to go. You will go alone, and you will return. O Sorcerer of Winds, that is your task. Succeed, and the goddesses may forgive you. Now go."_

Vaati, Link, and Medli stood in silence, waiting to see if there was more to be said. After several minutes, it was becoming evident that Valoo didn't plan to elaborate, especially since the dragon had lifted its head away from the trio and went back to looking at the horizon instead. Vaati sighed, mumbled something about Spirits always being annoyingly vague, and cast a glance towards the other two. "Hmph. Fine, I'll go then. You two go do whatever you want."

Link shrugged, barely meeting the sorcerer's gaze. "Eh." He was still kind of upset about his whole situation of having to stay with Vaati even after his rather dramatic declaration that he was leaving.

Vaati closed his eyes, trying to sense the direction of the wind since he figured that's what Valoo had meant about going where the wind would lead him. He managed to catch a certain current of wind moving consistently in a single direction. Vaati eventually disappeared with a cyclone.

Medli tilted her head, turning her head towards Link and the empty space where the sorcerer had been with a faint look of worry. She didn't understand: Lord Vaati had sent his companion on a potentially difficult task, and yet Link and Vaati had ignored each other like they didn't care about each other at all. Was it really the case, then, that they weren't on amiable terms with each other?

But then why, why did it seem to her from the way Link deliberately had his back to where the sorcerer had been as though he were making a statement, that he actually didn't want it to be this way? Both of their expressions had reminded her of the way two former friends might be after falling out with each other. Her thoughts about their dynamic were interrupted when Link's voice cut through the air almost as bitterly as Vaati's had been earlier.

"Valoo, was there a reason you wanted to see me at all, or did you only want to see Vaati?" Link asked with a barely visible frown along the corners of his mouth. "Because if I don't have to pass any test to get to Hyrule, then I'd rather go there now. There's no reason why I have to wait for Vaati to finish a task he might not even succeed in."

The dragon, who had been looking out at the horizon, shifted its neck slightly and gave Link a soft, almost pitying expression. It was brief, and the Spirit almost immediately went back to looking out at the ocean. " _O hero, I have no doubts that you are worthy to tread the soil of Hyrule. However, you have become unsure of yourself. Where once you had the Courage to trust your heart with unwavering belief, you have become afraid with uncertainty. What made you strong was the Courage to trust your own self, your own beliefs, your own convictions even in the face of all those tried to plant doubt into your mind. Without it, you will surely lose yourself to your darker half, and Hyrule will definitely fall."_

Link tried to absorb what the dragon was telling him. He didn't really know what Valoo was getting at, and he sympathized with Vaati about his annoyance over the Spirits' roundabout way of explaining (or not explaining) things that were obviously important.

" _It will do you well to remain here until you can find that Courage to believe again. Your mind has created layers of lies on your real beliefs; find that truth again. Only then can you win."_

XXXXXXXXX

The wind finally led Vaati in front of a sheer cliff that jutted out of the ocean. It was a bit farther out from the mainland, but he was still close enough that he could make out the clouds that circled around the top of Valoo's mountain. Vaati circled around the precipice until he finally found a crack that was just barely large enough for him to squeeze through inside. He figured he'd take a look to see what it was that was within the rock, since he wasn't able to find anything else that was interesting about it. As he stepped past the rocks, he found himself inside a waterlogged cave where the sound of waves hitting the rough rocks echoed around the walls. The salty gentle breeze caressed his bangs and beckoned him further into the cave; the atmosphere was so soothing that Vaati found himself drifting off to sleep. The soft sand that lined the edges of the cave seemed to invite him to lie down. He gave up trying to fight against the sudden drowsiness, and it was only after he slid on to the cool sand and caught a glimpse of a smile within the darkness that he realized he had been snared with a spell. A voice shushed him to sleep.

_Sleep, master. There's a better world than this one._

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Giving up on making sense of the dragon, Link sighed loudly and sat down on one of the rocks scattered along the mountain. He waved a hand towards Medli who had walked over to join him cautiously, as though wondering if it were okay for her to sit down with him. "Can you translate what he just told me? Because I don't really get what he's trying to tell me and I don't think he'll explain any more." Link's frown could have been identical to the one Vaati made often.

Medli took a seat on a rock opposite him, regarding him for sometime with her bright red eyes. "I don't think I can. When Valoo is vague, it is because he believes you hold the answer yourself."

Frustrated, Link kicked a pebble by his foot. "I mean, Courage to believe? What is that even supposed to mean?"

"You seem really bothered by your friend, Vaati," Medli observed.

"He's not a friend!" Link blurted, almost too hurriedly. He kept his gaze strictly on his boots, reluctant to look up. Medli blinked, even more surprised by what she was hearing. She waited, letting Link talk in a rushed manner as though he were letting out all of his thoughts he had been holding back before. "He's not. I mean, we're not supposed to be. We can't be. He only thinks of things that will benefit him. That's all this has been, anyway; an unfortunate circumstance that just happened to be beneficial for us both if we stuck together." Link looked up momentarily towards Medli with a shaky look in his eyes. It was one of those looks that clearly said 'help me,' but as soon as she'd seen it, Link went back to brooding at his boots.

Medli watched him quietly. He was obviously weighed down by an indescribably heavy burden, and he was trying to carry the weight alone. She reached over and gently took his hand. "Link."

The boy looked up, startled.

"Um, can I ask you something?" the Rito girl pulled her hand back, a little embarrassed. She wasn't very good at keeping her composure for long before her social shyness got the best of her and her 'ums' and 'uhs' started appearing in her speech. "You understand the ancient language," she stated after Link gave her a nod.

The other boy hesitated. "Uh, that wasn't a question."

"Well, do you?"

Link didn't really know how to answer. If he said 'yes,' then she was going to want to know how he knew the ancient language, and then he would have to somehow make up a story (which he wasn't very good at) to explain why he knew the ancient language. Of course he could tell her the truth, but there was a good chance she was going to take him for a nutter. Well, Niko believed him, but that was because it was Niko. After a while, Link replied, "No, I don't."

A thoughtful look came over Medli, and she put a hand to her chin. "Oh. Um, I guess I was mistaken then. I'm sorry I suspected you were hiding something from me. From everyone."

"What? What is there to hide?" Link asked, confused. He realized his mistake when Medli suddenly rounded on him, upset.

"I was just speaking in the ancient language, and yet you understood me. You  _do_  know the ancient language."

Link stammered, "I, um, studied it a lot during my free time…?"

"It takes many years to master the ancient language, and only the spirits and people like myself have the ability to teach it today." Medli cut him off sternly. Then, she sighed sadly. "Look, it's obvious something is bothering you and you're hiding it. You know more than you're letting on about the strange monster reappearances, too, aren't you?"

"How did you know?"

"Aha, just a lucky guess," Medli winked, and then giggled lightly when Link pouted from being tricked. "I'm used to having Komali hide things from me, so I'm pretty good at sussing out what people are bothered with." Her expression became a little more serious. "But, really though. I don't think you should burden yourself any further. Let me help, I can listen!" When Link turned away uncertainly, she pulled back, whispering softly, "Why can't you trust me?"

Link froze up.  _Oh Farore, what do I do? I just made a girl I barely know upset and it's all my fault!_  He glanced up at Valoo for help since he was the only other person around to seek guidance. He hadn't expected much from Valoo, so he was surprised when he caught the dragon watching him gently with a look that seemed to say ' _It's okay.'_

He turned to Medli who had stood up, getting ready to go back down the mountain since she had figured she had bothered Link enough. He hurriedly followed and grabbed her wrist. "Wait!" He paused when she looked back at him quizzically, and then he took a deep breath. "I'll tell you everything. From the beginning." He gave a small smile, "Just promise me you won't think I'm making anything up, okay?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As soon as Vaati opened his eyes, he was welcomed by a shrill and eager voice. "You've arrived! Thank goodness, we love guests. Master Vaati, is there anything we can do for you?" A shadow being floated in front of the somewhat groggy mage. It had the form of a miniblin, except it was completely black with a crescent, gleaming white smile that substituted a mouth. Vaati couldn't stare at it without getting the feeling of having his soul sucked into its darkness. He looked around. Then again, the same could be said of the place he now found himself in. He was no longer inside the tranquil cave, but an endless dark void. There was nothing here save for the perpetual darkness.

"Come, come, Master Vaati. We're sure we'll get along! We know you want the same things we want," the creature pressed. Its pupil-less white eyes bore into Vaati, pressuring him to make a positive gesture.

Vaati did no such thing and instead took a few steps around in a circle, trying to determine if there was a way out of the place. The fact that Valoo's test was to make his way to where the wind took him, and then safely return back continued to remind him that this void may be an obstacle to his ultimate goal. The miniblin's face fell momentarily when it was ignored by the wind mage, and then quickly regained its chipper attitude to try again. It flew quickly over in front of Vaati and stopped him in his tracks. "Oh dear, we must apologize. We forgot to introduce ourselves, Master Vaati! Our name is Dethl. We are what is left of Nightmare."

Finally coming to terms that he wasn't going to be able to pretend the creature didn't exist forever, Vaati forced himself to look at the smiling thing called Dethl. "What do you want?" he asked gruffly.

Apparently happy that the sorcerer finally paid it attention, Dethl giggled ecstatically before it floated in front of Vaati impishly. "We want what you want," it nodded with that smile still wide on its face, "We have a lot in common, master Vaati, for we also tried to take over a kingdom and we were defeated by Link." Dethl's artificial smile momentarily frowned at the mention of the hero's name. The frown was quickly replaced by a rather sly smile, however, when it floated closer to the sorcerer conspiratorially. "What do you say we work together to create a perfect world, Master Vaati? We can help you." To demonstrate, the imp snapped its fingers and the dark void melted away to be replaced by a spacious garden decorated by tall, cleanly cut shrubbery. A pigeon flew overhead in the clear blue sky, and a brisk spring wind brought with it the scent of lavender.

It was too real to be something artificial, and Vaati forgot about being suspicious of Dethl for seeming to know quite a bit about him. The new world that had literally sprung up around him left him speechless.

Dethl watched him carefully with that same old smile. "We can help you," it insisted. "We are your slave. We will do what we have been trying to do before Link came and ruined it, yes. We want someone who will rule this land overshadowed by darkness, Master Vaati. Master Vaati, we want you."

Vaati finally perked up, and his task assigned by Valoo slipped away from his mind. His eyes glinted as he lost himself in all the possibilities this world could be. "Are you telling me I can do anything, anything I want in this world?" When Dethl nodded earnestly, it was the sorcerer's turn to smile. "Keep talking. I want to know more."

"Yes, yes! Master Vaati, we will do what you wish. How about we start off and revive your magical abilities?" Dethl happily clapped its hands now that it had gained Vaati's approval. The shadow twirled around and with another clear snap of its fingers, the blue runes around Vaati's wrists spiraled away until they were gone. Vaati stood stunned and waved his wrists in front of his face, trying to accept the fact that he was no longer bound by the curse. The mage muttered a few spells and sent a powerful blast of energy towards the ground, creating a small crater where there had been a grassy garden. "Impossible."

"Nothing is impossible. Think of a place you would like to see, and you shall see it," Dethl exclaimed.

"Hyrule."

The creature cackled, rubbing its hands together. "At your service." With a snap-snap-snap, the greenery rearranged itself and a castle appeared. Guards that had been patrolling the area ran to where they were, looking surprised by the appearance of Vaati and Dethl. They were suddenly inside the courtyard of what looked like Hyrule Castle. Dethl giggled at the soldiers who were ordering them to leave the premises before they used force. "Uh oh. Master Vaati, we may have to see some ugly new statues in the castle grounds."

Vaati smirked maliciously. "Unfortunately." He cracked his fingers, warming them up for a spell he hadn't been able to utter in ages. "To Stone With You!" There was a flash of light and the soldiers turned to stone, frozen in the position they had been when the spell was cast. Vaati walked over to one of them and knocked his fists against the new statue. The stoning spell had been one of his most favorite, non-wind spells. "Is this real?" he whispered in awe.

"As real as real can be! As real as you and me!" Dethl laughed. "Reality is what you believe is true, Master Vaati. We just know how to control it better than most mortals. Anything is possible in this world, Master Vaati. Anything you'd like, it shall be done. Even the dead can be revived, and the immortal destroyed. Have you ever wanted to see the goddesses cower at your feet?" Dethl's grin broadened wickedly.

Now completely forgetting Valoo's task Vaati matched Dethl's grin. He liked what the shadow was saying.

"Anyways, Master Vaati, shall we begin? How about we start with a Hyrule where the Hero never has, and never will exist?"

The sorcerer's red eyes gleamed. "I will like that very much."


	48. The Lord of Dark Dreams

Hyrule was his. Without Link to stop him, taking over the region had been laughably easy. In fact, he doubted he would have had trouble even if Link had been summoned in this world. What Dethl had claimed had been true: whatever he imagined he wanted to be true, that was what reality would be. He could control anything, anything at all. In theory he could have just imagined a world where he was the king from the start, but a nostalgic part of him had wanted to do it the proper way. He'd started with a relatively standard Hyrule before he'd taken over the entire region with hordes of monsters. Dethl was ecstatic and giggled constantly, and Vaati occasionally let the shadow wreak havoc wherever it wanted to. Dethl was probably the only thing in this world that he couldn't control at all – it was also probably because everything else was… fake.

Of course when he had mentioned this to Dethl the creature had been offended. "Of course it's not fake," it had retorted. "What even is reality, anyway? It's just an abstract concept to give normality to a world very few can ever understand without going insane. Reality is whatever you decide is real."

Vaati had shrugged, then. It just felt like he was playing around in a meaningless dream sometimes because it was all a little too easy. If Dethl had pupils, it probably would have been rolling its eyes. Even though it continued to act subservient to Vaati, the sorcerer would sometimes catch it acting a little out of character.

"Oh, so now you complain because you have too much free will, is that it, Master Vaati? You creatures freak out when you think Fate has pulled its reins around you, but when you have all the independence of a Deity you think there's something wrong with the universe. We can't keep up sometimes, we swear…"

And with that Vaati had kind of nodded and left the topic alone. He supposed it had a point. It was stupid and impossible to say which world, the one he'd come from or the one he was in now, was 'more real.'

That conversation had been… actually, he didn't remember how long ago that had been. Time was difficult to gauge in Dethl's world. Vaati couldn't tell if it had only taken a few days or if several months had already passed. Sometimes he felt like it had only been a couple of hours, but the rational part of him argued that was absurd. He decided at least a month must have passed – how else would he have found the time to design and establish some of the best dungeons he had ever created? Not that he had any use for them since the Hero was missing, but it was something of a tradition and he couldn't take over Hyrule without creating dungeons. He made one full of spiders in dedication to his promise to the arachnophobic Link.

"Master Vaati, this is magnificent! The way you made this world is what we have always dreamed to have," Dethl appeared next to Vaati, the grin stuck on its face. Vaati was in Hyrule castle's throne room, watching with half-interest at the region's most beautiful maidens perform a dance. The mage barely looked at the shadow.

"If you always wanted something like this, couldn't you have just made one yourself?" the sorcerer drawled.

"Oh no! Oh no, no, definitely not. We don't have the imagination to come up with something like this."

"So you're basically a parasite that lets other people do all the work."

"Hahaha, Master Vaati complements us too much, we think," Dethl laughed slyly.

The mage waved the shadow away as he was beginning to tire of Dethl's constant bubbly voice. "Leave me, Dethl. Go terrorize the gorons if there are any left."

The shadow zipped away eagerly to Vaati's relief. "With pleasure, Master Vaati! We will do as you wish."

The sorcerer sighed as the shadow disappeared. He was supposed to be happy; he had achieved his lifelong goal. He held god status in this world, as everything he put to mind came true. Vaati had even married Princess Zelda in a flight of fancy, because one of his attempts to do so in the past had been thwarted. Ha, that had been… interesting. The personalities of the people in this world were so real that Vaati couldn't tell the difference between this Zelda and the Zelda back on the other world. The princess had yelled at him and blasted him with white magic the moment he had appeared.

But now, well, he'd gotten total victory on that front as well, just as he'd decided. "Zelda, I want you to go back to your room now," Vaati ordered with a dull tone as the maidens finished their dance.

The princess, who was standing next to the mage, leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Yes my love."

Blast it. Even the princess was beginning to bore him. Even if she changed her appearance, from her usual princess dress to a sage garb to something sinister that matched the palace, it was always predictable and therefore uninteresting. Everything was too easy. Vaati needed a distraction.

"We can be your jester, if you like."

The mage jumped as Dethl materialized in front of him. Vaati growled. "I thought I told you to go to Death Mountain."

The shadow giggled. "Yes, but the gorons have all but disappeared. We think we overdid it the last time."

"Well, go create another goron population on Death Mountain to obliterate. I don't care what you do, just leave me."

Dethl kept its grin. "Of course, Master Vaati. We just assumed you were quite… bored," it laughed as it disappeared.

Vaati made sure Dethl was gone before he stood up and made his way to the courtyard of Hyrule Castle. He was beginning to think that he had been wrong about what he had wanted. It must have been the process of getting to the goal that had thrilled him, and now that it was so bloody easy to achieve his goals, everything had lost its glow. He walked slowly to the place where he had once taken part in the Picori Festival, where he had first met an incarnation of Link. He chuckled.  _That day was fun._ Vaati snapped his fingers and a festival sprung up around the castle, just like at the Picori Festival hundreds of years ago. There were vendors raffling off prizes, a curious potion shop, and balloons. One minor difference was that the people there avoided him fearfully. In this world, they already knew about him since he had already taken over Hyrule.

He'd expected nostalgia – a comforting feeling, maybe? Instead what welcomed him was that nagging sense of unease that something wasn't right after all. The sorcerer looked to the sky and decided to visit a place he had always felt at home.

XXXXXXXX

"You time traveled," Medli said disbelievingly, making sure she had heard Link right.

Link threw his hands up in the air. "See? That's why I didn't want to tell you. I knew you wouldn't believe me!"

Medli gave a reassuring smile, trying to let the other boy know that it was okay. "It is unbelievable," she admitted, "but maybe with you it's possible."

Link rolled his eyes, bitter. If Niko had seen him now, he would've said Vaati had rubbed off on him. "Pff, yeah. Hero of whatever? The weirdest things happen to me," he grumbled cynically.

The conversation waned, and there was an awkward silence while they watched the sun beginning to set on the horizon. Neither of them brought up the fact that Vaati had been gone for a while with no sign of returning, and Valoo made things worse by simply shaking his head with a grave expression if one of them asked about the sorcerer's task. Medli looked down at her feet, not really sure what else to say. Even though Link had promised earlier that he would tell her his story, she had the impression that he had left large chunks of the narration out. For instance, she had been acutely aware of how Link would almost go out of his way to avoid any mention of Vaati if possible. The only thing he had mentioned at all was how the sorcerer had been a bad man, and that they were only working together now out of what Link had once believed was out of necessity. Now, it was evident that he wasn't really sure if being together was worth all of the hassle.

Medli didn't really know what to say. She didn't want to be any pushier than she had been to get Link to talk about what was bothering him about Vaati, but she also knew that it would be better to let him talk when he was ready. Sighing a little and shyly shuffling her feet, Medli got ready to stand up. "It's getting late. Um, if you want, we can find you a room to stay in at the village."

"Is it horrible if…"

"Huh?" Medli looked up as Link trailed off.

The hero pulled his tunic closely when the dropping temperature bit at his ears. His eyes were hidden by his bangs as he snuggled his face to his knees. "Is it horrible if… if I thought it would be better if he didn't come back?"

Medli's eyes softened. "Is that what you really think?"

"It's just… well it would be easier for everyone if he didn't come back," Link muttered. It was obvious to both that he had avoided the question. "I told you about how he's a bad person, right? Like how he basically pulled the same stunt as Ganondorf and tried to take over Hyrule? Then isn't it better if he didn't come back?" Link seemed to be talking mostly to himself instead of Medli who was next to him.

The Rito girl remained quiet for a few minutes. Then, she said simply, "If that's the case, then it's perfectly reasonable to not want him to come back. It would do the world a whole lot of good without someone like him around." Her tone was severe and matter of fact, which seemed to get to the other boy. It didn't seem like he noticed he had grimaced, and Medli gave a small sigh. "That's not the whole story, is it," she stated, "you actually think there's some hope for him, don't you?"

"I thought I got over it," Link mumbled quietly. "At the beginning, when all of this mess started, I was more than ready to get rid of Vaati if it had turned out he was more trouble than it was worth, bringing him around. I only brought him with me because it had been Hyrule's request to capture him alive if possible. Then after a while it turned out… well, it didn't seem like he was so bad. We actually got along, I thought, in our own distorted kind of way. But then there was that whole thing with the Helmaroc King and he kind of just started going back to the way he was. Actually, I think that had been him the whole time, and I was just too much of an idiot to see th – "

"Link!" Medli jumped up in front of him and took him by the shoulders. "Hush!"

Link blinked, immediately stopping his train of thought. Medli shyly retreated, but then started again gently. "You're over thinking things."

The blond looked down at his feet. "I know, but – "

"No buts!" Medli held up a finger. "Look, I know you're not the same Link I knew, but you said you've had to save, well, pretty much the world before, right?"

"Yeah?" Link answered, puzzled.

"Against all odds?"

"I guess…"

"A feat which, if you'd actually thought about it rationally, you would have said was impossible and therefore not worth your time?"

"But I had to! If I wasn't going to, then there would have been no one else," Link frowned, "I know it was a stupid and I could have died, but I didn't have time to think about that then."

Medli smiled. "Exactly. It's something that, if you took your time to think about it, it's really dumb. What you did is really, really dumb."

"Gee, thanks Medli."

The girl laughed. "Don't misunderstand me. It's a good kind of dumb. Isn't that what a hero is? It's someone who goes out and sticks by what they think is right, even though the facts are against him. A hero doesn't over think things. A hero just  _does_." She then perked up when something occurred to her. She remembered what Valoo had been telling Link earlier: something about the courage to believe? Medli looked up at the dragon, and the guardian briefly tilted its head towards her and gave her a small wink. She turned to Link again to say something, but the troubled hero already seemed to be considering her words carefully.

"I guess you're right?" he said to himself cautiously. He seemed to be turning the idea over in his head. "I used to never really think about consequences. I kind of just went and did what seemed right. I might have lost sight of that at some point." He suddenly felt a huge weight leave his shoulders. He hadn't really noticed it had been there, pressing down on him and threatening to crush him, until it had lifted. He'd been thinking too much of the future instead of thinking about what he was doing now. He'd been thinking too much of all the possible 'what-ifs' that might not even happen.

Link mulled it over for a little bit longer, and as more time passed the more he realized how he'd been letting future uncertainty bother him more than it should. If he encountered problems, he'd deal with it then; not worry about it now. And if he wasn't going to worry about the future, then the only answer left was…

"I'm going to wait. He can come back. Besides, he always does."

The great dragon watched Link's expression turned from a brooding, troubled one to one he had been used to seeing on the hero's face. It was a look that was almost childishly hopeful and full of determination. With a small puff, the dragon decided to bring up one last difficult comment for the hero to consider. It wasn't that the spirits particularly liked posing difficult ideas, but they also knew it was their job to let mortals face tough decisions if only to help them grow. " _O hero. I commend your determination, but I am afraid of the reason why the sorcerer hasn't returned yet_.  _If he should not return by the time the sun rises, you must assume he will never return."_

While Medli looked up at the dragon with a horrified, 'why-would-you-say-something-like-that-Lord-Valoo,' expression, Link turned his head upwards and bravely locked his cool blue eyes with the dragon's. Unafraid, he smiled, and cheekily returned Valoo's quote from earlier.

"Then I just have to find that courage to believe again, don't I?"

The dragon couldn't help it. He chuckled, causing a few plumes of flames to rise between his teeth.

_Very good._

XXXXXXXX

Vaati stood with his eyes closed at the Palace of Winds. He was alone, at the very top of the palace where he had fought different Links across the ages, multiple times. From the edge, he could peer over and see the clouds rolling across the landscape below where monsters and large, ferocious beasts now roamed.

This was supposed to be the perfect world with the perfect scenario. But if that was the case, why did he still not feel like shouting in triumph?

A rustle of feathers and the sound of beating wings caused him to look up at a visitor. His expression softened a little sadly for a moment before it was concealed behind a frown. "Did you come to see me?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer. It was a redundant question, but he needed anything to keep his mind off the fact that the Helmaroc King was in front of him. The great bird was no longer dead, but alive in this world. It cocked its helmed head to the side and regarded him with its inquisitive yellow eyes.

"I was simply curious, Lord Vaati. I feel as though you have been avoiding me."

Vaati flinched inwardly. The Helmaroc King in this world was also one to get straight to the point, usually in a way that would make one feel cornered by the question. "I'm a busy person, you know that. I can't talk to you all the time," he grumbled. It was a weak lie – it was true that he had been avoiding Helmaroc since he'd arrived here. He felt like he could have wished the Helmaroc to remain dead, but he had been a good companion and it seemed wrong not to bring him back when he could. Well, Dethl seemed to indicate that some aspects of this world was based off of the subconscious, and therefore the conscious couldn't do anything about it: it could have been simply because a part of him regretted killing Helmaroc in the other world and therefore the bird had appeared here.

At the same time, the whole situation of having to face the Helmaroc King again was incredibly awkward, so Vaati had stayed well out of his way when he could.

"I don't think you should lie to me like that, Lord Vaati," Helmaroc puffed up its red feathers around its neck and snapped its beak. Then, it said more gently, "you should tell me if I've done anything to upset you, Lord Vaati. To be honest, you look… unhappy."

"Unhappy!" Vaati snorted. Straining a smile admirably, he waved his hand over the landscape below him. "Why would I be unhappy with  _this?_  I have everything in the world! I've finally achieved the status as the ultimate being, and all my goals have been accomplished. What more can I possibly want?" He perked up, smiling much more widely as he gradually convinced himself that everything was perfect. He was quickly shot down by the Helmaroc King.

"Is that what you truly think?" the bird scoffed. "How much longer can you last with this façade before you finally break? There's a part of you that doubts this. You know this is wrong. Isn't that why you have avoided me all this time? I only speak to you now because you finally can't take it anymore."

A frown began to slowly emerge on Vaati's face where the forced smile had been. The Helmaroc King's conversation had taken a strange, confusing turn. What was he talking about? "Why? What are you talking about?" Vaati asked tentatively, suspicion creeping into his voice.

Helmaroc continued relentlessly, just the way the sorcerer knew him, but at the same time, in a way that was unfamiliar. "This is the easy way out, isn't it? At some point you gave up trying to find meaning in the real world and now you're prancing around in some so-called happy Dream Land."

"How do you know about this? You're not supposed to know."

"Dethl has clouded your judgment on what reality is, hasn't it? It's truly pathetic to think you would fall for such a childish ruse," the bird sharp yellow eyes narrowed disappointedly, "This world was created from your mind. Don't you get it, Lord Vaati? You think I am real, but I am merely something your mind has created."

Vaati abruptly took a step back from the Helmarc King, startled by the almost metacognitive turn this conversation was taking. Who was this? "You're not the Helmaroc King at all!" he shouted. He even imagined that the bird's normally yellow eyes had flickered to a shade of red that matched his for a fraction of a second.

"I am and I am not. I am, perhaps, more different than the real Helmaroc King because your mind that created me knew, somewhere deep down, that I can't possibly exist again the same way I used to exist. You know, Lord Vaati. You know that all of this is a childish game – you just refuse to openly admit it yet. This is why you're unhappy. It's because you know that this whole game is wrong: you're wasting away here."

"Why are you telling me this? I was… actually glad I could see you again," Vaati clenched his teeth. A part of him was upset that someone had come to break down his illusion that everything was fine, but at the same time another part of him wanted to keep talking.

"I don't doubt this is true," the bird replied, a little more gently. "At the same time, the fact that I am telling you this is proof that you don't really, truly believe that I am real. Without that acceptance, I will never be the same Helmaroc King you used to know."

"Then, just shut up! I'll just wish you never existed and everything in this world will be fine!" Vaati whirled his heel, his cape whipping behind him. He made as though to leave someplace, but hesitated when he realized he didn't know where he would go.

"You can't get rid of me, Lord Vaati. You have conflicting feelings and deep down you know that what I'm saying is true. You say you wish I don't exist, but your words hold empty meaning because that's not what you truly feel."

"I told you to vanish! This conversation is becoming tedious," Vaati snapped, rubbing his temples.

The great bird scoffed, and took to the air. "Then go ahead, continue to play in your fantasy land," it said scornfully, "If this was what you were going to end up being, then you have really lost sight of why you killed me instead of Link at the Forsaken Fortress."

The corner of Vaati's lips twitched. "I don't see what the problem is for staying here." He was able to finish what he had meant to do all these years right here, in this perfect world. He had everything he could ever want. Why should he forfeit this dream to wake up to one where he had no magic, where everything was below the ocean, and where he would have a goddess awful time succeeding in finding ultimate power?

"Very well. I'll drop the matter. However, let me ask you one final question: do you even know why Valoo sent you here? You think he didn't know about Dethl? Do you know what this place is? This place is where you must learn to face your deepest secrets. This is where you must learn to face yourself. This place is the Nigh – "

_Poof!_

Vaati stood wide-eyed in shock when the Helmaroc King was cut off midsentence, disappearing in a huge cloud of purple haze. "Wait!"

It was too late, however. When the purple cloud had dissipated, a small black imp appeared with its perpetual grin plastered on its face. The look of shock on the sorcerer's face immediately hardened. "What are you doing here," Vaati hissed.

The shadow snickered and shrugged. "Just getting rid of something that was bothering you, Master Vaati."

"He was trying to tell me something," Vaati's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, just trying to fill your head with insecurities and nonsense, and we dare say we have enough of that to go around."

"Bring him back," the sorcerer demanded. "You have no business nosing about in my affairs."

The shadow bobbed up and down in the air, tutting. "We're afraid that's not exactly true, Master Vaati. We help facilitate all of the realities here, and that also means we keep everything in check." Dethl swung around towards the sorcerer's shoulders and hovered by him closely. "Which brings me to another point: we want more, Master Vaati. We want more darkness, yes. Master could do a better job, we think," the creature said a little huffily.

Something that had been bothering Vaati at the back of his mind pushed its way past all the turmoil and popped up with a blaring warning. He narrowed his eyes at the shadow who was still grinning. "How did you know where to find me?" he asked slowly.

"Oh, just a good guess," Dethl giggled.

Vaati stiffened, becoming alert. Dethl, he realized, might have the ability to read his mind. The shadow always knew where to find him, knew of his history, knew his name before he'd even said anything – practically knew everything about him, in fact.

"And that, Master Vaati, was a very good guess. We knew you were clever the moment we saw you," Dethl clapped his hands amiably. "Come now, Master Vaati. Don't be so bitter. We can work together to make this world perfect. We hold you in high regard for your darkness." A hint of sarcasm was present, but it was too subtle to catch clearly. Vaati gritted his teeth when he heard Dethl confirm his suspicions. The last thing he wanted was someone who knew him inside out.

"No. I am leaving." He had made up his mind. This place wasn't where he should be, and he had a feeling he wouldn't miss what he was going to leave behind. Helmaroc's warning that had been cut short, along with the realization that he might not actually be the master of this place, gave him more than enough incentive to get the hell out of here. He held up his hands and concentrated until he could see the binding runes again, and then cleared his mind until the Palace of Winds and all of Hyrule disappeared into the void once more. Dethl cocked its head.

"Why? You were doing such a good job. The best master we've had in a while for sure."

"I'm leaving," Vaati repeated flatly, and then walked in a small circle wondering how he was going to make his last wish come true.

Dethl saw this and cackled. "We're sorry, but that isn't an option, Master Vaati. We will follow all of your orders except for that one. Now let us continue what we were doing," it beckoned. Vaati snarled and swiped at the shadow, but Dethl warped behind him and giggled. "We make such a great team, Master Vaati! Stay with us."

"Last time someone said that I told them I would kill them," the mage hissed. If Dethl hadn't been some incorporeal thing he would've punched its annoying grin off its face.

"We know that, Master Vaati, you said that to Link. Master can't hide anything from us," the shadow wagged a finger in front of the sorcerer, "and Master shouldn't try to be funny." The last statement was spoken with malice, and the shadow's bubbly act was temporarily dropped. Vaati cautiously pulled out his Wind Waker as Dethl edged closer. "This is the last chance we're going to give you. Will Master agree to stay?" The mage held up a finger in a rude gesture in response. Dethl grinned. "Such a shame, Vaati. You were such a perfect  _master_ , so evil like us. Perhaps we can make you see some sense to stay and see the greatness our world has to offer. There will be a slight change, however." The surroundings flickered and they were back at the Palace of Winds once again. "This time, you, Vaati, will be calling us master."


	49. Waking

"Are you up for a game, Vaati?" Dethl asked, as it began to expand into a dark sphere. Its miniblin form disintegrated into an ominous blob. The mage readied the Wind Waker and tried to see what the shadow planned to do. "We know you like games, Vaati. You like fair games," here, the shadow snickered causing Vaati's eyes to narrow, "because what fun is a game that ends on the first move, right? You always play with your victims: allow them to power up before coming to see you. We will give you the same chance if you agree so we don't destroy you with our first move. Isn't that generous?" The sphere bulged and suspiciously familiar bat wings unfolded from its sides. It was eyeless, but its perpetual grin was still there. "We shall grant you back your abilities you just rejected. Vaati, get rid of your binding curse so that this will be more interesting."

Vaati cast a momentary glance at the Wind Waker in his hands, and then looked back at the black blob resolutely. "No."

"Otherwise this won't be fun for us at all."

"No," Vaati repeated harshly, his fingers wrapped tightly around his only weapon, "the more I accept help from your abilities, the more I become trapped here. I won't become reliant on you".

"Tsk," Dethl sounded annoyed, "We see. So you really are set on leaving. Shame, Vaati, you could have been god, and yet you choose to be beaten by us."

"Who says I'm going to be beaten by you?" Vaati spat. The eyeless grin plastered on the face of the sphere suddenly opened, and then morphed into a red and gold eye. The mage froze as he saw the shadow's transformation: he was facing himself.

Dethl didn't give him a chance to register what was going on, and immediately blasted a searing laser beam from its eye. "Remember this one?" It cackled.

Even though Vaati had been caught by surprise, he managed to dodge the attack. It still sizzled close enough that he could feel its heat pass by his shoulder, but it wasn't an attack that had been difficult to avoid. He realized then for the first time that Link could roll out of that attack without fail because the blinking eye was a huge giveaway for it. A good lesson learned – if he made it out of here.

The moment Vaati came to this realization, the same realization hit Dethl as it read his mind. It's huge eye briefly widened in surprise, and then it laughed. "Such power, and yet you  _just_ discovered why you could never hit your target! Ah, Vaati, you made us make the same mistake you made." The laugh was deliberate, loud, and impossible to ignore with its unusual resonance as though multiple people were laughing at the same time. In short, it was quite possibly the most annoying laugh ever.

Vaati's cheeks flushed in embarrassment and also fury at being laughed at. "Stop the chatter, you pathetic excuse of a copy!" The sorcerer swung the Wind Waker and sent a tornado towards Dethl. Being a mind reader, Dethl saw through the attack and sent its own cyclone to counter. The opposing winds clashed against each other, raging between Vaati and his copy, but the black eye was beginning to struggle to keep its cyclone under control. Even though it knew everything about Vaati's attacks, replicating it to perfection was a different matter entirely: it might have been effective against someone else, but definitely not against the original himself regardless of the fact he wasn't back to full strength. Seeing this, Vaati smirked and he abruptly twisted his baton to the right. In addition to the tornado in the center, a small but forceful gale headed towards the nightmare creature to throw it off balance. It didn't connect with Dethl as it could predict Vaati's movements by reading his mind, but it was enough to provide enough of a distraction to cause it to retreat momentarily. Its eyelid was scrunched in intense concentration, and now Vaati was the one to laugh. "Hmph. Apparently you can only focus on one thing at a time," he snorted. "Are my spells too difficult for a pathetic copy like you?"

Dethl returned perhaps the largest one-eyed squint ever, and then a monstrous clawed arm shot out from its side and snatched the smug wind sorcerer off the ground. "You arrogant fool," it glared.

Vaati laughed and gave a wicked grin. "It's not so fun anymore, is it?" He grimaced slightly as the claw squeezed threateningly, but he continued to snicker. The tornado he had summoned earlier in his first attack had swung back around to go straight for Dethl. Even though Dethl was able to notice the incoming attack, its body's huge bulk made it slow and awkward, and it was hit with the full brunt of the tornado. Reeling, Dethl let go of the mage, and Vaati easily hopped back onto the ground and swung around for more. Razor sharp winds at blinding speed whipped towards Vaati's copy, slicing long gashes across its glaring weak spot of an eye. Dethl recoiled, screeching hideously as it suffered blow after blow. Gradually, it lost its image as Vaati's monster form until it was a small puddle of black shadow lying just before the sorcerer's feet. The winds stopped, and Vaati brushed the wrinkles from his cape with a sharp snap. "This is insulting. Do you think I'm that weak?"

The shapeless black blob writhed for a moment longer before it retorted bitterly, "We have learned just now how weak your strategy is. Obvious weak-points, obvious attacks, clumsy body, slow reactions: perhaps this is why you always lose against the hero. This why we just lost to  _you_ , because we copied what you do. We would have won had we had a better strategy to imitate…" It managed to crawl a few centimeters away before Vaati slammed it down with a shockwave in anger. The thing let out a small squeak like a rubber ball that had been squished, and then it hurriedly collected itself into a small, fearful black blob that floated in front of the mage. "Truly astounding, Vaati. We had reasons to hold you in high regard," it quickly corrected itself. Still, it didn't sound very sincere. "But of course your strategy is masterful and flawless. But of course we can't defeat the original himself! We apologize for our behavior earlier. Join us to be the gods of this world."

Vaati lifted the Wind Waker coldly, getting ready to finish Dethl off. "I decline your offer. I'm going to kill you, fool."

"This is the world where all of your desires will come true. What do you have back at the other world that you hold so dear?" Dethl was genuinely confused.

 _What indeed?_  Vaati thought for a moment. But he had already had this conversation with the Helmaroc King. "This place isn't real."

"So the concept of reality is what is holding you back, is it?" Dethl mused. It had that voice again that Vaati didn't like: it was the voice of a schemer.

"What good is it to waste my time in an imaginary world?"

"Then tell us, what is reality then? What makes the other world more real than this one?" it smugly repeated the same question it had asked when Vaati had first had doubts.

But unlike previous times where the sorcerer had grudgingly agreed to the implied answer that both worlds were the same, this time, Vaati resisted. Instead of turning his head away and giving a short, almost irresponsible shrug, the sorcerer stood his ground. "I used lifetimes on the other one. Don't expect me to waste it by turning my back on it."

A single eye opened in surprise on the black blob, and the nightmare carefully looked at Vaati with curiosity at the new development. Then, it laughed. "Ahahaha! Oh oh oh, we see; so it's the Helmaroc King! Ahhh, see, we knew we had to get rid of that troublesome bird from this place – it gave you all sorts of unnecessary ideas." Dethl warped behind Vaati to avoid the Wind Waker for a little longer and continued its chatter. "Its death would have been in vain if you stay here, is what you are thinking. Otherwise you should have killed the hero instead…" it trailed off, and then it paused as though a stutter had appeared in its train of thought. The small black blob stared blankly at the sorcerer in shock, and then the crescent grin suddenly reappeared on its face. There was a shrill laugh and the creature began to change shape.

"Vaati, we are shocked. Oh dear," it laughed uncontrollably, causing the mage to grip the Wind Waker tightly. "Oh dear," it repeated, "you hid this so well from yourself we didn't know either."

Vaati clenched his fingers, causing the Wind Waker to give off a faint glow of magic. "Make your last words worth it because you don't have too long to live," he threatened. However, a part of him couldn't bring himself to land the finishing blow immediately because he wanted to hear what the nightmare had to say. He knew he had to kill the thing now, but he stood frozen on the spot; his ears wanting but not wanting, to listen to Dethl.

Dethl's grin took shape on a humanoid form that was gradually becoming clearer. Familiar. "Of course. Now, how shall we put it?" it tittered. "Ah, but we should've known the moment we saw you with the Wind Waker. Yes, yes," it mumbled to itself, "you cannot kill us now." With a final brief flash, someone Vaati recognized stood before him instead of the monster. It was Link.

"Hmph. That just gives me more motivation to kill you," Vaati growled, but he didn't sound too confident. The imposter Link scratched his head with the exact same mannerisms as the real hero; the head was tilted with the perfect angle, and Link's expression was as annoying as ever. Dethl was an expert on imitation.

"Nah, you can't. Sorry, Vaati, but we can read your mind, remember? You will never admit it yourself, which was why we didn't realize in the first place, but when it comes down to it you cannot hide it from us." Even its voice matched perfectly, and the only thing that was off was its habit of referring to itself pluralistically. When Vaati refused to speak, his hands trembling in fury, the fake Link nodded solemnly as though he were speaking of a terrible disease.

"You, Sorcerer Vaati, have been changed to fit the role of  _hero_  whether you realized it or not. When you had to choose between the Helmaroc King and Link, you had sealed your fate." Dethl held up a finger to silence the wind mage who had begun to protest. "Ah ah. You might say you were looking at the bigger picture of defeating Ganondorf and that you are just using Link. You might say revenge was on your mind. But is siding with the hero worth just the small and petty satisfaction of revenge? You could have left everything well alone, since that baton is giving you a good deal of freedom. Was your old ally's death over your enemy's life worth it just for a bit of revenge? You know the answer. There was more to it than that." Dethl Link scrunched his nose in disgust while Vaati stood speechless. "How disappointing. We believed you were one of the true Lords of Darkness when we met you, just like Lord Ganondorf himself." He threw up his hands, "The rumors passed through the centuries! They were incredible, and you had been our ideal. Now we see you have become just like our enemy." Link crossed his arms indignantly. "Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised, since you were not true to Darkness from the beginning. We shouldn't forget you belonged to the race that created a most despicable sword for the rest of us. Even so, we had high hopes for you, and seeing you like this makes us very sad indeed."

Link smiled broadly and held a hand out to the mage. As soon as he moved, Vaati's free hand shot out like a snake and grabbed the other boy by the neck. The tip of the baton dug into Link's neck as the sorcerer held it threateningly. However, this only caused the imposter to laugh even more. "We can read you like a book, Vaati. You will not kill us because you cannot kill Link. Now come and join this world so we can return you to the respectable Lord you were." Dethl grinned, "We will both get something out of it; you will terrorize the denizens of this world so you may return to your old habits, and we will thrive off of the nightmares."

"You," Vaati hissed and his tense hands dug the Wind Waker more sharply into the sneering Link's neck. His eyes wavered and his expression was difficult to read, while Dethl calmly stared back with his same old sneer.

"You cannot kill Link, and therefore us, Vaati," Dethl whispered with Link's lips, "You made your decision at the Forsaken Fortress, and you can't turn back on it."

The tension was heavy and time seemed to grind to a stop. The Palace of Winds had long since disappeared and they had returned to the endless void. Minutes that seemed like hours had passed, and the only visible movement was the steady rise and fall of their chests as they breathed. Finally, Link raised his hand and gently moved the unyielding Wind Waker away from his neck. "You see? You do not even deny it. Let us help you return to the person you had been. If you go back now, you will be the very thing you loathe to be: a hero. You cannot kill Link."

Vaati's eyes were hidden from view by his bangs that had fallen over them as he kept his head down. His hands clenched and unclenched, and at times it looked as though his shoulders were shaking.

The Nightmare reached over to lay a hand on the troubled sorcerer's shoulder. Immediately, Vaati flinched backwards and sinister red eyes lifted as he let out a venomous snarl. "Don't tell me what I can and cannot do!" He suddenly shoved the startled Dethl to the ground and reached for the copy's sword. Before Dethl could react, he slammed the blade through its stomach.

Link gave a hideous scream until he fell into a fit of weak chuckles that sounded less like the hero and more like the nightmare. "Ha, perhaps we were wrong," he choked between gasps, "Haha, we can… simulate blood just… for laughs." Dethl Link's face contorted into a demented smile and coughed up blood. Then, it howled in laughter at its absurdity. "We're pretty good… actors, don't you think?"

Vaati scowled. "Let me leave."

"Have patience. You… will leave… this place when we… are gone." Link dissolved into the black blob of shadow that was Dethl. It seemed to have trouble talking as it continued to die. "We shall… leave with satisfaction, Vaati. In the end… we have won. You were able to… show us that you still had it… in you to be… who you were destined to be. We take back what we said about… you not being true to Darkness…"

The surroundings began to flicker, and Vaati became disoriented from the unstable landscape. Only Dethl's voice remained constant.

"You can never… be the hero… Vaati. Remember that. It is… your fate."

The mage became enveloped in blinding light as the last vestiges of the Nightmare vanished into the void.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Vaati opened his eyes and found himself lying flat on the sand inside the cave he had wandered into before he had met Dethl. He frowned when he thought about the creature again, and its name left a foul taste in his mouth. Some water dripped onto his face and he hastily wiped them off with his sleeve. The light from the sun was flickering into the cave as it signaled the new morning, and Vaati wondered for how long he had been gone.

The mage sat quietly on the sand, listening to the occasional cawing of the seagulls outside. He fingered some damp sand, creating a little mountain only to crush it between his thumbs later.

 _You can never be the hero, it is your fate,_ Dethl's voice echoed in his head, tauntingly.

Vaati narrowed his eyes.  _I never asked to be one…fool._ He stood up and prepared to return to the Rito's island.


	50. Finale

Medli woke up as the sun's light began to creep across the boulders she had been lying on. She and Link had opted to stay the night to wait for Vaati, and Medli had only left briefly to bring some blankets to stay comfortable. She rubbed her eyes, stretched, and then almost screamed and ran when she thought she saw a monster perched next to her. Then, she realized it was actually Link.

"Oh my goddesses, Link, are you all right?" She gasped, taking him by the shoulders. There were faint dark rings around his eyes and he looked a bit sickly, and his blank stare made him appear like a corpse. Medli placed a hand to his forehead to check to see if he had a fever. She was glad he was fine, but she was still worried about the stare. "Link, did you sleep at all?"

Link shifted slightly and looked at the Rito girl's two worried red eyes. "Vaati?"

"No, silly, it's me! Medli!" she cried.

"Oh…"

She gave a worried frown when she saw Link hang his head disappointedly. "You didn't sleep, did you?"

"No," he mumbled.

"But why?"

The boy glanced towards the sun. For once, he didn't seem to welcome the warm rays that touched his skin. "I was waiting," he trailed off.

It broke Medli's heart to see Link's face at that moment. The situation was too cruel: it was just last night that the issues he had been harboring regarding his enemy-turned-ally had been resolved, but now, with Vaati failing to return it was almost as though his revelation had come too late. It was tragic to see the hero, who belonged in light, watching the sun and wishing it to return to dusk, if only to buy more time. "He might come back tomorrow, Link. Valoo never said exactly when he should return."

There was a low growl as the dragon decided to speak then. " _You are wrong. It has taken too long. I am afraid he may have failed and decided to choose the wrong path._ "

"Oh," Medli whispered. She turned towards the hero who sat rigidly, watching the dawn break over the sea. "Link..."

" _O Hero, the time is up for the sorcerer. We must give you your task to complete alone."_

Link gave no indication he had heard the dragon at all, and stubbornly kept watching the horizon. The girl treaded softly over to the huddled Link and put a hand on his shoulder. She didn't want to see him like this. She didn't want to see anyone like this. "Link, you should get some sleep. We can come back here tomorrow if you'd like."

"No," his lips barely moved. He'd come all this way putting up with Vaati, and he didn't intend to finish it all alone. His eyes fluttered as he fought to stay awake.

"Link, you're going to get sick."

Without warning, a sharp wind whipped past them and Medli brought her hands up to her face to keep the sand away. It was abrupt and rough, like it was making a statement. When she looked up again, she was overjoyed to see the return of the sorcerer. Vaati stood in the center, and though he appeared somewhat frazzled as though he had rushed away from where he had been, he was still in one piece. Valoo spoke first, his voice full of surprise and respect. " _O sorcerer, so you have returned. You had us worried that you had failed._ "

Vaati nodded, his face expressionless. The last thing he'd expected was to be greeted by so many relieved faces. He wasn't used to having people happy about his return, given his history. Usually he'd arrive someplace and people would be completely horrified. What puzzled him most was that Link appeared to be the happiest about him coming back, with his reassured smile missing the tension that he'd had before. Something had happened while he'd been gone, that much was sure. Link had changed. In fact, they had both changed. What that even entailed, though, Vaati didn't know.

" _I was wrong about you,_ " the great dragon interrupted the sorcerer's thoughts with a puff of smoke, " _I grant you access to Hyrule, and perhaps you may have a chance at redemption. The path is open for you at the Tower of Gods."_  The dragon's neck bowed down in a humble gesture. " _O Hero of Winds, forgive me for doubting you. May the goddesses guide you both._ "

Vaati's eye twitched, but it was barely noticeable. The mage sounded like he was making an immense effort to be pleased by the grace when he uttered "thank you." As he turned to leave the mountain, he was interrupted by a loud thud of something heavy hitting the ground.

"Link!" Medli cried. The exhausted boy had fallen asleep.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

The waves lapped against the side of the ship as it lurched its way back to where the Tower of Gods had been. Progress was slow, as Vaati had retreated to sit by the bow alone, refusing to touch the Wind Waker and forcing the crew to do their best with the current wind. He seemed set off by what Valoo had called him earlier, being a "Hero" and all. It was good that Link wasn't around, since it would have made him feel worse about himself. The blond was asleep in the cabins, resting after the long night awake at the mountain summit.

The sorcerer was at the front of the ship, resting against the rails and watching the clouds casting shadows over the water like small floating islands. Vaati was lost in thought, going over what Dethl and Valoo had told him. It bothered him immensely that he'd been compared to a hero, a word that he completely despised. All he'd wanted during this whole ordeal was to reclaim his powers, and for what? To take Hyrule for himself. What was so heroic about that? They were all idiots. Every last one of them…

"Er, captain…" a timid voice interrupted. The mage turned around abruptly and glared at Niko who had inched his way towards the bow. It was the first time the pirate had actually approached him ever since that small, brave, yet unquestionably stupid outburst he'd had after the fight with Cyclok. The pirate was wringing his hands together and trying to avoid the captain's red eyes. When the eyes narrowed in warning, Niko scooted back again, unnerved. "Um, actually, never mind sir."

Vaati rolled his eyes. "No. Stay."

"What?" Niko squeaked. He began to expect some horrible punishment for bothering the captain.

"If you want to say something, stop squirming like you want to pee and say it," Vaati snapped. The pirate gulped.

"Oh, er, I was just wondering if Link was, you know, all right."

The mage muttered something under his breath and sighed. Of all the topics to bring up to him right now, it had to be that one. "That idiot boy doesn't deserve worry. He subjugated himself to stay up the entire night. At times I wonder if there's anything in that skull of his."

Niko frowned, and then hung his head and mumbled a garbled apology. Before the pirate could scuttle away, Vaati stopped him.

"I suggest you don't disturb him. He doesn't need your bothersome presence right now." The mage had looked away so Niko couldn't see his face.

Niko stood still for several seconds, wondering if he'd heard the captain correctly. Did the captain just indicate he did care, if only for a little bit, about what happened to his friend? Feeling better that Link was going to be okay, Niko gave a short salute and opted to run off. "Yes sir!" He began to dash away when he flinched and tripped over himself at the sound of the captain's harsh voice.

"I didn't say I was done with you."

Niko sighed. What was it now? The pirate returned to the sorcerer in sluggish steps, definitely not looking forward to what Vaati wanted. He grudgingly brought his face up to see the captain, expecting the usual glare. Niko was mildly surprised, therefore, when he found the captain hesitant and unsure. It took Vaati some time to finally speak, and when he did, he picked his words carefully as though he wasn't sure what to say.

"How do you see me?" he spoke softly, lost in thought. "Answer honestly," he added coldly, as though to make up for his lack of resolve earlier.

Niko blanched. What kind of a question was that? And why ask the lowly skivvy of all people, who definitely disliked him the most out of anyone on the ship.  _Honestly? Well, I freaking see you as the most evil thing on the Great Sea. You're mean, you're a bully, you're short, you have mood swings like a girl, heck, you LOOK like a girl, and you're the weirdest, creepiest person I've ever known in my life!_

"Um, you're pretty scary sir."

"Hm," Vaati put a hand to his chin and looked thoughtfully at some seagulls that were perched on the masts. His curved bangs hid his eyes, so it was difficult gauge his expression. "Good," he whispered. Niko stood frozen on the spot, wondering when the captain was going to let him go. He wondered if he had given the wrong answer. The pirate shook a little when Vaati whirled around, a shadow over his face with a tight-lipped frown. "Hear this, I'm a villain. Do you understand that? A villain." Niko backed up as Vaati walked toward him. The pirate couldn't find his voice and he was cornered against the edge of the ship. "There's no question about it, understand? I'm evil, and nothing will change that. Now tell me I'm a villain."

Niko tried to answer, but his voice caught at his throat. He was too preoccupied by trying to find an escape route to get away from the crazy captain.

"Say it, fool," Vaati hissed. The mage watched Niko trembling before him, and then roared in rage when he finally lost patience. "Say it! I'm the greatest villain of all time and not some foolish hero! I'm not a hero, you understand that? I'm no hero! I'm EVIL!"

"Y-y-yes sir," Niko stammered, alarmed. His eyes were bulging in fear.

Vaati turned his heel, his cape whipping behind him angrily, and he stormed back into the cabin. The door slammed shut behind him. Once inside, he took a deep breath and waited for his pulse to slow. The sorcerer pinched the bridge of his nose with the onset of a headache. He was losing his identity, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could stand it. After the deal with the Helmaroc King, he'd believed he'd gotten back on track but now he realized that had been an illusion all along. What was he? Vaati slid down to the floor with his back against the wall and he put his face in his hands. This adventure was making him confused about himself, and he looked forward to its end. The end: it was so close he could feel its comforting warmth creeping up to him – he only hoped it wasn't going to end up consuming him in a burning inferno.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Swabbie, we're almost going to have to say goodbye, huh?"

It was three days after they had left Dragon Roost Island, and Link had finally come back to the deck refreshed, though Vaati was as sour as ever. Link and Niko were propped by the edge of the ship, watching the outline of the sandy coast of the former Tower of Gods become distinct as they approached their destination.

Link glanced at the buck-toothed pirate. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, swabbie, that I won't… I won't ever see you again after you go to Hyrule," Niko sighed, swinging his legs.

"Of course you will. I can defeat Ganondorf, so don't worry about it."

Niko looked away. "I know that. But I won't see  _you_ , swabbie. If you finish this, I won't ever get to talk to the Link that had traveled time."

Link didn't really know what to say. What the pirate had said was true, and when they said goodbye this time, it was probably goodbye for good. If he succeeded, then he wouldn't return to the future. If he failed, then every incarnation of him will disappear forever.

"What's going to happen with you and the captain, swabbie?"

"Huh? Oh… I'll figure something out…" Link was lost in thought. To be honest, he wasn't sure what was going to happen. Vaati would probably want to fight him, but even in the event the sorcerer didn't, there was still a problem. Even if the spirits had forgiven Vaati, Link couldn't think of a way for all of Hyrule to forgive the mage enough so the hero could convince them not to hang him. It was a near impossibility; they would expect the sorcerer to be killed.

"Hey Link."

Link leaned over the ship's railings until he could see their blurred reflection in the water below. "Yeah?"

"I'm going to miss you."

The ship creaked to a stop as the anchor was dropped and they arrived at the Tower of Gods; the place where Link and Vaati had first begun their travels across the flooded Hyrule hundreds of years beyond their time period. Link tried to convince himself that the water that was collecting beneath his eyes was just some sea spray. "Me too."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Tower of Gods had once stood proudly, protruding straight from the ocean depths in complete disregard for breaking the smooth contours of the water. Now, with Thistle's meddling, it had finally succumbed, melting away into a sandy shore. Vaati had joined Link on the deck as the pirates readied the ship for docking: the sorcerer appeared to have gotten over his outburst for the time being.

There was a few seconds of silence. Then, "I told you we should have checked it out," Link mentioned quietly.

"Shut up."

They were both staring at the golden light that sparkled in the water in front of them. It was a shimmering circle at the edge of the isle's coast as though a small sun was glowing from beneath the ocean. The mage was convinced that it was some sort of portal that could take them to Hyrule. Vaati kept his hands in front of him, still avoiding the touch of the Wind Waker, and Link's forehead was creased into a deep frown, preparing for the upcoming fight.

"Stop that."

Link stirred when he heard Vaati's voice. "Huh?"

"Thinking about the end. You'll lose focus as soon as you start worrying about things like that," Vaati muttered. It was uncertain whether the sorcerer was directing the advice at Link or himself. He turned away and grumbled, "Besides, all you were ever really good for was swinging that scrap metal around."

Link smiled. He hadn't been thinking about The End, as in when absolutely  _everything_  was going to be finished, and it gave him kind of a relief when he realized Vaati was actually bothered by it. "And  _you_  shouldn't be concerned about me. It's not like you."

Vaati gagged. "I'm not, stupid. I just don't want your head to explode before we fight Ganondorf. You'd be completely useless then."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

The sound of waves filled the stall in their banter. Both figures were weighed down with their concerns, and neither had the energy to lighten up. The crew had also noticed the heavy atmosphere and was keeping to themselves, trying not to bother the two time travelers.

Link opened his mouth, then closed it, and then opened it again. "Vaati, what do you think is going to happen at the end?"

The mage kept a blank face and shrugged disinterestedly. "The end is the same for everyone, fool. We'll both die someday."

"You know what I mean."

Vaati's head snapped sharply towards Link. "And you think I can see the future?"

"I'm just wondering – "

"I said to stop that. Thinking about the end, don't do it."

Link ignored him. "I'm just wondering if I have to fight you."

Vaati didn't skip a beat. "You don't have to. Just let me do what I want to do and mind your own business," he said flatly.

"You want me to let you kill me?" Link couldn't help but chuckle a little at the ridiculous suggestion.

"You would never have made it onto my blacklist if you hadn't tried to stop me in the first place."

Link could tell Vaati was skirting around the subject, trying to avoid talking about the adventure's conclusion. The thought made him feel a little better. "It's not like I could've let you take over Hyrule."

Vaati waved his hands in front of him. "And why not? What makes you think I would've been worse as a ruler than that old fart at the throne? A king can be no more a tyrant than me."

"Well, the monsters for one thing…"

"You think they don't deserve a home?"

"They killed some people…"

"And the people killed them too."

"You kidnapped a bunch of maidens…"

"A lot of them came willingly."

"And you trapped them in – wait,  _willingly?_ " Link faltered and stared at the smirking mage.

"Mmhmm. Willingly."

"But then why did you trap them inside dangerous dungeons?"

An annoyed look came over Vaati's features. "They began to scream."

Link's eyebrows slowly came together. "That doesn't sound very willing…"

"They were willing when they followed me, so I didn't technically kidnap them."

"I also remember some story about you turning the princess of Hyrule to stone."

"She made a rather pretty statue."

"You don't see anything wrong with what you just said?"

"I don't do things that I would regret later. I repeat: she made a rather pretty statue."

"So you didn't regret your drinking spree after the hangover the next day?"

"It wasn't like I had a choice with that," Vaati grimaced.

"You just don't give up, do you?"

Vaati grunted something and turned on his heel away from the glowing light on the water to face the crew. The pirates gathered around Vaati and Link when the mage lifted a wiry hand to the sky to catch their attention. Vaati gave a quick nod to Gonzo who had approached. "We're leaving."

The large pirate was hunched over, and Gonzo fidgeted with his thumbs. "You'll find Miss Tetra, Captain?"

"Perhaps." This answer caused the pirate to frown dismally. "But," Vaati held up a finger to stop Gonzo from blubbering, "either way I won't return from Hyrule." There was a surprised murmur amongst the pirates with the exception of Niko who knew the reason why the mage wouldn't return. The little pirate was biting his right knuckle, trying not to think about the goodbye forever with Link.

"Won't return? Why not, captain?" Senza asked for the entire crew.

"I just won't. You should all celebrate," Vaati sneered.

Gonzo exchanged glances with Senza, then Nudge, and then the rest of the pirates around him. He then looked to his feet. "Um, captain. Actually, we thought you were a pretty good captain." The comment took Vaati by surprise, and his mouth twitched in annoyance. "To be honest, we didn't really, um, like you," he shook his hands in front of him in defense, "but you knew how to lead."

The mage stared at the pirates in turn, and his eyes narrowed when they came back to Gonzo. He resembled a hawk that had targeted the bullshit rabbit and was going in for the kill. Gonzo flinched, but then collected himself and continued with surety. "Captain, we just want you to know that you can always come back to this ship. Miss Tetra would understand."

Vaati's expression was hard and his brows were forced together in the middle of his face. Finally, he laughed. "I'm never going to come back. Never." With that, he swung himself over the side of the ship and splashed into the ocean. Link and the crew watched him paddle over to the golden pool and disappear below the depths. His cape swirled in the water before it melted away into the deep blue.

"Link."

Link turned around and saw that Niko had come up to him, still biting his fist. Link laughed weakly. "You shouldn't eat yourself Niko."

The fist sped away from the pirate's mouth and he put it behind his back in obvious embarrassment. There was some laughter and chuckles among the pirates, but they quickly died down as they saw it was time to say goodbye.

"Link, come back with Miss Tetra," Mako spoke. Link tried to smile positively, but he knew the person who was coming back to the pirates wouldn't be the person they were talking to now.

"I will." It felt so wrong to make that sound sincere. There were several pats on his back as the pirates wished him luck, and he almost toppled over when Niko ran up and gave him a hug. The other pirates watched in confusion; they knew Link was going on a dangerous mission, but Link was Link. He always came back, didn't he?

"Bye Link," Niko sobbed. Link didn't know what to say, and pretty soon he was hugging empty space as Niko had run back indoors, unable to stay any longer. Link felt himself choking up; he was eager to return home, but he was going to miss the people he had met.

"Bye everyone," Link whispered, and he jumped into the ocean blue.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As soon as Link reached the glittering water he felt himself pulled downwards. At first, he panicked and tried to fight against the force that was sending him deeper underwater. He was holding his breath for as long as physically possible before he gave up and sucked in. Link expected salt water to come rushing into his nose so he was shocked when he found he could breathe normally. He swept his hands around, but he felt a watery resistance. This hypocritical situation confused him all the more, and he decided to stick to accepting the situation as it was. He was somewhat afraid that if he pointed out the logical impossibility, he would lose his ability to breathe underwater. Vaati was just below him, and he could see his cape flapping with the rising bubbles.

The surroundings became darker as he moved deeper into the ocean, and he saw some strange creatures he would never have liked to see; like a long, eye-less, razor toothed fish with a rat-like tail. There were other things, too.

Suddenly, he saw light coming from below and the silhouette of a castle loomed before him. The white castle completely empty of patrols was haunting. What was strange was that he found that he was back in air when his feet hit the ground, er, ocean floor. Link couldn't tell when that had occurred, but he decided he shouldn't think about it too hard. There was also grass growing around the castle instead of seaweed or sand. Some distance away, he saw an enormous snake-like monster coiled and twisted on the ground, dead. It was the lifeless Molgera. He briefly thought about the renegade wizzrobe and how close it had been to reach Hyrule and Ganondorf. It was kind of sad, actually. Even though it had wanted to kill them.

Vaati was standing at the boundary of air and water, trying to get a better view of the land past Hyrule Castle. There were hints of broken walls; the remnants of the castle town that hadn't survived the onslaught of ocean water. Link watched the mage stick his hand out to the water and then hastily pull it back out, shaking the salt water away. "Interesting," he heard the mage observe.

Link moved off towards the gates of the castle and gripped the Master Sword. Just beyond these doors was the man they had to defeat to get back home. He turned as Vaati came up next to him with a fierce look in his eyes; there was so much anger radiating off of the sorcerer that Link worried the castle might burn down. They took a momentary glance at each other in confirmation and pushed the doors open to face the King of Darkness.

What they never noticed was the other presence watching them near the carcass of Molgera.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"And so the final Act approaches. The strings from the orchestra, perhaps eerie and forlorn, quiet the audience as the curtain again rises. For the final time. When the Act is done and the actors give their bows, the curtain will fall. And for whom will it rise again? When the crowd leaves and the theater is empty, when the props are left scattered on the floor like a sad memory, when the stage is no longer bright and is lifeless… what is left is regret that it had ended so soon. We will never see the same characters again. We will never hear the same story. And when the curtain rises for a new story, who will remember the ones told before?"

A creature deliberated, reflecting over his thoughts as he watched two adventurers slowly descend from the ocean's surface to the soft sand miles below. They were still quite a ways up from the creature, giving them the appearance of two people flying high above in the sky. They waved their arms around, in wonder at the fact that they were underwater yet weren't drowning. The two appeared more preoccupied about their watery surroundings than the fact that the end was approaching.

The end to everything…

The creature chuckled, and then stood up. As he did so, the rest of his left arm crumbled off. He didn't seem bothered by it, though. He was used to appendages falling off now. The creature was mostly a shining white robe with light pouring out of its silhouette. It was missing its left arm and its right hand. There were still patches of light lavender cloth that indicated what it might have looked like before the Light of Naveen had begun to ravage it, but no sign was left of its playful, beaky face. It was now faceless, save for two green eyes that looked out from beneath the hood.

Thistle resisted the urge to brush down the wrinkles in his robes lest he lose more of himself. He'd lost enough limbs already, thanks. He'd managed to remain together for a little over four days after the first signs of his lethal condition because he'd decided not to move a single muscle until Link and Vaati arrived. Until this experience, he never would have guessed that the most difficult thing in the world to do (or not do) was to lie down and do absolutely nothing. It had been terribly boring, but he'd slept through most of it so it hadn't been too bad. His only regret was that the fish weren't very good company.

"Sad is the Finale when it ends. Unless it was a horrible play, then the end couldn't come sooner. But this one has been quite fun, and I'm sorry that this has to be the last Act. At least the Intermission is over." Link and Vaati were now by the castle gates. The renegade wizzrobe, just barely recognizable now, floated over to the castle out of sight of the two arrivals. "Ladies and gentlemen: the Finale. Kehaha."


	51. To End a Legend

The tall wooden doors opened to the great hall of Hyrule Castle. Chandeliers sparkled like suspended raindrops reflecting the sun. Imposing empty armor with perfectly polished metal stood sentinel along the walls, taking the place of guards who had once patrolled the castle. Red velvet carpet led up to the far door embossed in gold gilded mahogany. Especially now that they were only a few dozen steps away from the last confrontation, Hyrule Castle was extremely intimidating.

Vaati walked slowly over to the door and gingerly pushed the heavy chains coiled in front of it like a silver snake. A broken lock was at the end of the chain, and Vaati's eyes followed it with mild confusion. Link had lagged behind to take a look at an empty chest that sat in the middle of the red carpet. It wasn't the ordinary brown wooden chests commonly found in dungeons, but a rich turquoise with curling gold. Obviously it was a very special chest housing an equally special treasure, and Link could only guess it had housed the key to the broken lock. Vaati looked over his shoulder to look at Link and they both exchanged identical looks of raised eyebrows.

What was incredibly weird about this chest was that these special boss key chests were  _never_  easy to find, and here it was sitting in the middle of the first chamber of the castle. And on top of that it was in the middle of the stairs, like someone had moved the chest there before opening it! It was almost as though someone had made things easier for them to get to the throne room. Either that, or someone had taken a head start on them. But who, and why?

They shrugged. It wasn't time to worry about that now. They pressed on, opening the final door that would lead them to the throne room.

As soon as they stepped inside, a cold, familiar voice welcomed them. "I've been waiting for you," Ganondorf sneered. He sat self-assured on the throne, just in front of the statue of the Triforce held up by the goddesses: to have the King of Darkness sitting there was irony at its worst.

The Render was also present beside the throne, her head waving slowly from side to side, ready to strike at a moment's notice with her master's orders. This time, however, it was restrained by chains clasped around its neck and claws: they rattled with each movement the black dragon made and they glowed with a hint of magical reinforcement that kept it bound to the castle floor. Apparently Ganondorf had not been pleased with its performance during their last battle. Opal lay hunched over with her teeth bared, keeping guard of the prism that held Princess Zelda captive.

"God I hate dragons," Vaati muttered, reflecting on all of the awful experiences he'd had from dealing with them. From Argorok to Valoo to Opal, none of them had really gained his favor. Like, at all.

They tensed when a merciless laugh echoed through the room, gradually turning into a guttural, beast-like snarl as the King of Darkness morphed into his boar-like form. "You pitiful fools, you were late," Ganon growled, fangs jutting out from his lower jaw as intimidating tusks, "but now that you're here, let's not waste any more time. I will personally finish what was supposed to happen before that idiot lizard flooded Hyrule." Ganondorf towered over them now, and he was almost as big as a small house. His light armor clanked against each other as his huge, hoofed leg crashed down onto the floor and caused the castle foundation to tremble.

While everyone had their attention turned towards the terrifying transformation, a faintly white shining figure snuck past the throne room doors. It slid behind the pillars and empty statues, and it peered behind them carefully as though it were waiting for something. A chance.

Link unsheathed the Master Sword as Ganondorf completed his transformation into the large, blue-skinned boar that they had encountered at the Palace of Winds. He was ready. He'd beaten Ganon once, he could do it again. Granted there had been four of him when he'd fought before, but he should still be able to win. Besides, Vaati was also fighting. Vaati was…

Link glanced at the sorcerer who still hadn't taken out the Wind Waker. "Vaati, what are you doing?"

The mage stirred. He clenched his teeth and squeezed his fists together. "I'm never going to use the Wind Waker," he replied hoarsely.

"Don't be stupid! Now's not the time, and why are you suddenly afraid to use it?"

"I'm not afraid," Vaati seethed. "I'm just… I'm just not a damned her – "

_Wham!_

Vaati was unable to finish his sentence as Ganon moved in towards the mage with surprising speed and sent him flying across the chamber. Even Link stumbled a bit in shock that such a large, bulky figure could move so quickly. There was a sickening crash as Vaati slammed against the floor and slid across to the other side.

"Gahaha! Vaati, you're the dirt of your kind. Stay out of my way and I'll let you live a little longer," Ganon bellowed before he turned his attention to Link. He'd gotten rid of the annoying fleas that would interrupt his fight with the wielder of Courage.

"Vaati!" Link barely blocked a swipe from Ganon with his shield. He rolled out of the way as another clawed hand threatened to turn him into a part of the floor, and his eyes dared to dart over to where the mage had been sent flying. He was able to catch a glimpse of the dazed wind mage stumbling onto his feet before Ganon knocked Link's feet from under him.

"Link, today you die for good!" Ganon roared. He held out a clawed hand and the air crackled as a powerful sphere of magic that appeared to suck in all the light around it formed in front of his palm. The sphere shot towards the hero and Link managed to roll out of its way. The air screamed as it made contact with the stone floor and shards of white rock shattered everywhere as the floor exploded in bits. Small lines of blood formed across Link's face from the sharp fragments that had whipped through the air.

"Vaati, you have to use the Wind Waker!" Link shouted above the noise. It was too risky to attack Ganon right now because he was too busy trying not to get himself killed: a direct hit from an attack like the last one would surely mean the end for him. Link looked over his shoulder and to his dismay he saw the mage was still hesitant. He couldn't understand why the sorcerer, who used to be ecstatic about the abilities of the Wind Waker, was disgusted about using it ever since he had returned from Valoo's mission.

"All right," Vaati finally snarled, not sounding too happy. With great effort, he raised the baton up to cast a spell. There was another smash as Ganon slammed the floor where Link had been, and the hero scrambled away while wiping away the blood that had begun to drip across his face. Through the noise, Vaati could hear Link shouting at him to do something, but he was more focused on the unresponsive Wind Waker he held in his hand. The only thing he could summon was a tauntingly pleasant breeze that stirred the air around them.  _Din's fire_ , Vaati cursed. He brought his hands back down slowly.

"I need your help!" Link called urgently. Vaati merely shook his head.

"We're indoors. The Wind Waker has no power here." The mage's face was expressionless as he said his next words, "You're on your own."

Link gulped as he raced around to avoid the rampaging Ganon. He slid to a stop as he found himself cornered between the possessed dragon and the King of Darkness. Opal snarled, forcing the boy to face Ganon head on. Link slowly turned around as the interior of the throne room basked in an eerie blue light from Ganon's charged energy ball. Ganon grinned, sure of a victory.

 _I've got one chance_ , Link thought as he brought the Master Sword in front of him. He tried to remember the feeling of reflecting Ganon's attack just like the first time he had encountered him, back when he had been at the Palace of Winds with the Four Sword. He'd done it once, he should be able to do it again, right? At the time, Vio's suggestion had sounded insane, and it still felt as though he had been lucky his plan had worked at all. He kind of wished he had his four selves with him again. He hoped he would be able to repeat what he had done.

"Grraaaah!" Ganon sent a fully charged energy sphere towards the waiting hero. Link dug his heel into the floor and swung the sword as hard as he could. For a second, Link thought he had failed when he felt a tingling sensation along his hands from the attack's energy, but the sphere somehow rebounded and hit the dark king square in the chest. The Master Sword gave a shrill ring as it reflected the clump of dark magic.

Panting, Link tilted his head to where Vaati had been. "Careful, I don't think he's dead yet," he warned the mage. However, he was surprised when he saw Vaati had gone. Link had no time to look for him as a figure stood up from the floor where the boar had lain. A Gerudo man took a step towards him, armed with a sword that was almost as tall as he was. Ganondorf grinned and brought his sword in a fighting stance, his leering gaze looking over his hooked nose.

"Good. I would have been disappointed if you weren't capable of pulling that off. Now I challenge you to a battle with steel. No magic, no tricks: just man to man."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Vaati heard the clash of metal as Link and Ganondorf began their duel. Vaati knew he was near completely useless as he was no better than a weak mortal without the help of the winds. As a mage, he had been lazy about improving his physical abilities and now he was paying for it dearly. Instead, he made his way towards the obsidian dragon: he clung on to the flimsy hope that he could somehow convince the possessed creature to remove the curse on him. As soon as he was within ten feet of the dragon, Opal bared her jaws in a formidable snarl.

"You're Opal," Vaati began. There was an awkward pause filled with heavy, smoky breathing.  _Well that was a lame statement_ , he thought to himself. He didn't really know where to start. What could he say to someone who wasn't home 'up there?'

The dragon's jaws partially opened, displaying rows of pointed teeth that would readily punch airy holes all over Vaati's gut. Possessed yellow eyes gleamed as the pupils thinned to wire tight lines.

"How long are you going to let Ganon puppeteer you, huh?" Vaati tried.

" _GRrrrssddDDDIIIEEEE!"_

Well. This was off to a  _GRrrrssggGGGRREAT_  start.

"Kehaha! I'd take a step back if I were you, Lord Vaati. The Render might bite a limb off. Actually, if you lose some limbs you can look like me!"

An all too familiar voice spoke from just behind his shoulder. The giggle of someone who was perpetually amused soon followed. Vaati could feel the blood slowly creep up to his face, and he was pretty sure that if he had a mirror he would be able to see his skin become a twenty-rupee red. The last thing he needed right now was for the dead to come laughing back from the watery grave.

The sorcerer whirled around, his cape billowing behind him as he snapped the Wind Waker across like a sword in warning. No spells were cast, but it was enough to cause Thistle to hop back and chitter unappreciatively.

"I give you good advice and this is how you treat me! Awful rude."

Vaati didn't respond, and instead carefully followed the wizzrobe with the Wind Waker. He was surprised by how much his appearance had changed: light shone out from all of the places where Thistle had crumbled off. Considering it was almost all of him, he was now a brightly glowing, light bulb of a robe missing an arm, a hand, and a face. Vaati doubted he would have recognized the Summoner Wizzrobe if he hadn't heard its distinctive cackle earlier. He didn't expect there was much time left for Thistle – any moment now and the wizzrobe would disintegrate completely into the air with a flicker of light, according to what the books said about this syndrome.

"You still haven't given up, have you?" Vaati kept the Wind Waker trained on the wizzrobe in case it tried anything.

Thistle eyed the weapon warily. "Of course I haven't. But look, Lord Vaati, I mean no offense but I'm not interested in you anymore." He prompted the sorcerer to stop pointing the Wind Waker at him, but Vaati wasn't about to let his guard down just yet. "In the state I'm in now, you'd agree that I can't take on all of you, correct?"

"You couldn't take on any of us regardless," Vaati muttered.

Thistle made no indication he'd heard the comment. "So the least I can do is take out one of you. Taking you out won't be much of an achievement, I'm afraid, since you're not at your full potential. I mean no offense, Lord Vaati, that's just how it is."

"Oh I am  _so_  disappointed."

"That leaves two people. And this is where you come in." Thistle nodded towards Link and Ganondorf who were clashing swords at the bottom of the stairs of the throne room. They maneuvered between pillars and statues, occasionally knocking down armor, as they vied for an opening. Neither of them was getting a clear advantage over the other, though Link appeared to be struggling slightly more than the dark king. "I don't have much time as you can see. I still have respect for you, Lord Vaati: I believe I mentioned that at some point. I'd much prefer you over Lord Ganon. So I'm giving you a choice," the wizzrobe cocked his head, "between Power and Courage, who would you rather see dead?"

It was kind of silly in retrospect. There were two champions of the golden power in a continental battle in the background, and at the same time the two individuals with the least amount of influence (specifically, a mostly-dead wizzrobe ready to crumble with the tiniest of breezes and a sorcerer in name and looks only) were casually discussing who to get rid of. Vaati stared at the wizzrobe for a few seconds, and then scoffed. "What makes you think I'd care? I want both of them dead."

"Well then I'll just – "

"So you'll just go after the pig man, okay?" Vaati cut him off sternly. "I hate him just a little bit more than the fairy boy." He watched Thistle consider it for a moment, and then nod earnestly. It was kind of nice, having an underling monster listen to him for once since who knows when.

"Great. Then I'll first clear the roof for you so you can actually be useful kehaha. And then you and the hero can run off and – "

Vaati's frightening red eyes became even more frightening as his pupils shrunk to needle points. So much for nice underlings.

"and… er…" Thistle trailed off and decided to omit what he'd been about to say, "er, you two create a nice distraction okay? I have an idea."

There was an awkward giggle from the wizzrobe as another corner of his robe crumbled off. For a moment, the sorcerer had been about to argue: why should he take orders from a lowly wizzrobe? Then, he'd decided to let it go. The renegade was in tatters and had shown just as much fight as the ones higher in hierarchy. He still disliked renegades because of all the trouble they usually caused, but maybe he could give this one a chance. Vaati sighed. "Why are you doing this?"

Thistle's awkward giggle turned into a loud laugh. It was drowned out for a moment by Opal's low growl nearby, but neither of them paid the dragon any attention. Thistle shrugged, being careful not to have any other bits crumble off. "Lord Vaati, have you ever wanted to just take Fate by the hand and gently cuddle with it forever?"

"… No."

"Yeah me neither. I kind of just want to chop its head off and spit in its dead face," Thistle giggled, "have you ever had that feeling?"

"Actually," Vaati gave a bitter snicker as well, "I know that all too well."

The wizzrobe appeared mildly surprised. He would have smiled if he'd still had a mouth to smile with. "And that, Lord Vaati, is exactly why. I don't care about Destiny. I don't care about Fate. And I know I tried to kill you earlier but I hope you can put that past you." Thistle took a small bow. It was actually respectful for once, without any of the insincerity he usually displayed. "It has been a pleasure."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Link's breaths were gradually becoming shallower, and he could tell his fingers had begun to shake a little from the fatigue. Sweat mixed with blood in a stinging combination, dripping profusely down his chin. Ganondorf had proven to be an expert swordsman, and Link was at a disadvantage because of his shorter reach and weaker arms. He needed to think of something unexpected because he knew he probably wouldn't be able to win in a fair fight.

Ganondorf was taking his time, and Link could tell that the Gerudo wasn't using his full potential yet. The man wanted a fight of endurance, and if Link played along he would lose. The hero parried, sidestepped, and moved behind a fallen statue to gain a few valuable seconds of respite. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Vaati standing by the dragon. To his surprise, he noticed someone else there with him: a somewhat familiar robe of white light that was crumbling apart little by little.

It couldn't be… was it that renegade wizzrobe? Last he'd seen of him, Link would have assumed he'd be dead. Even so, it wasn't like Thistle hadn't completely escaped his end: his condition had worsened from the looks of it. He didn't have a recognizable face any more. Link wasn't sure what was going on, but he trusted Vaati to take care of whatever it was.

They appeared to speak for a little while longer and then Vaati took a few steps away as though to prepare for something. They had a plan. Link didn't know what it was, but all he could do was hold off Ganondorf to the best of his abilities and trust that the two former enemies weren't going to kill him instead.

There was a loud crack, not unlike thunder splitting the sky, and the turquoise light of the sun passing through the ocean pour through the ceiling above.

Or, that is to say, what had been the ceiling. At least a third of the castle ceiling had been removed with displacement magic so that they were exposed to the outside air. The little wizzrobe had whatever left of his sleeves up in the air to complete the spell, but at the sacrifice of his lower torso. The rate of decay was picking up speed again, and Link figured he had less than an half an hour.

There was a sharp, forceful gust of wind that whipped past Link and slammed itself against Ganondorf. Vaati was back with the Wind Waker, and now that the baton had a little more access to the elements it had regained some of its power.

Link whirled around, bringing his attention back towards Ganondorf. This wasn't the time to worry about what the other two were doing. He saw that Vaati's pressure with his magic had momentarily caused Ganondorf to lose focus on the sword fight. This was it. He had to use this chance. Link took out a bomb in his right hand and then lunged at the king with his sword. The King of Darkness was quick and blocked Link's strike as expected, so Link back flipped and threw the explosive at Ganondorf's head.

According to his plan, the addition of the bomb should have caught Ganondorf off guard and should have at least exploded near him. Instead, he had obviously underestimated Ganondorf's battle awareness: the dark man swiftly yet casually bat the bomb away where it blew up across the room with a bang.

Before he knew what was happening, Ganondorf's sword had clashed with his once again. This time, he hadn't been prepared and Link felt his wrist wrenched painfully to the side, the Master Sword spinning out of his grip. Link rolled away from the sword that came whizzing down next to him and he hurried away from the now laughing Gerudo.

Ganondorf was between him and the sword, and the only person he could rely on was Vaati.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

" _I'll let you use your baton again so create a distraction. Trust me for the rest."_

Is what that troublesome bundle of robes had told him. Vaati, in all honesty, had not expected that crippled wizzrobe to actually dismantle part of the castle roof with the very spells that were pulling him apart, but whatever. Thistle wasn't counting on surviving any of this, and anyone with that mindset could do… well… pretty much bloody anything, in fact. Vaati's wind wasn't really going to damage Ganondorf, but that wasn't what he was aiming for. He was here for support until someone else could finish the job and return his magic. That wasn't to say that the winds he summoned were weak, because they weren't. They were pretty damn powerful.

The problem was someone who held the Triforce of Anything wasn't going to go down with a few hocus pocus spells with a little more flair than usual.

Vaati frowned grimly as he waved the Wind Waker like a conductor. He'd been happy before, when he'd first got it, but that was like how you might be happy about eating slop after having nothing but scraps from the trash heap for a whole year. No wonder why Ganondorf laughed at him. He looked so silly waving this tiny little stick around and  _being so proud of it for goodness sakes!_

Ugh. So embarrassing.

And to top it all off, the Wind Waker was a Hero's item. Hero, with a capital H. He just wanted to go back to being himself.

"Vaati! The sword!"

Link's urgent voice made Vaati snap out of his reverie and actually pay attention to what was going on. He'd zoned out a little there. Oops. It wasn't his fault though – of course he'd be somewhat bored if he wasn't part of the main cast in the Final Battle. Link's responsible this time. Wake me up when it's over, thanks.

Vaati straightened up. "What?"

He didn't really need to ask, since the Master Sword slid towards him, blades spinning like a beautiful, deadly turbine. It stopped before his feet, and then he noticed Link cornered against a marble pillar by Ganondorf and completely defenseless without the sacred sword. Sure Link had other weapons, but it wasn't like his slingshot was going to help him here…

Vaati's eyes moved from the sword, to the hero, and back again. He turned away from Link's pleading expression to pass him the sword. He couldn't. It wasn't possible. He didn't see a way… "I can't touch it, you fool, do you know what it would do to me?"

"The sword, Vaati! I can't fight without it!"

The sorcerer turned his back to Link. Link didn't seem to understand. He  _still_  didn't seem to understand who and what Vaati really was. The Sorcerer of Winds of all people wouldn't be able to touch the Blade of Evil's Bane: it would probably knock him unconscious as soon as his fingers gripped the hilt.

A low thud and a faint garbling noise forced Vaati to turn back to the boy behind him. Ganondorf had now reached Link and had grabbed the boy by the neck so that he was hovering several feet in the air. The Gerudo was saying something to him in glee.

"Vaati…" Link rasped.

The mage's expression darkened. He really was the only one who could do it. The sword was right there by his feet, and all he had to do was lean over and pick it up. Thistle wouldn't be any better, wherever the hell he was: if anything, he'd probably do much worse considering the state he was in now, with limbs falling off and all…

A distraction. That's all he had to do to according to Thistle. Pausing for only half a second more, Vaati reached out and snatched the Master Sword from the ground. He flinched when he touched it as he expected something to smite him down.

Nothing came.

"No," Vaati breathed in shock. There was a gurgling sound as Ganondorf began to slowly choke Link to death, and Vaati was forced to put aside thinking about the implications for another time. He dashed towards the Gerudo from behind and slashed the man across the back as hard as he could.

"AAargh!" Ganondorf released Link from his hold and the boy fell to the floor, gasping for breath. Ganondorf sagged to his knees as he'd taken a decent amount of damage from the direct slash. Vaati grinned triumphantly and was about to say something arrogant when the dark man began to laugh maniacally. Without even turning around, Ganondorf landed a powerful punch on the sorcerer, sending Vaati crashing into Link. The two battered figures struggled to get up off of the floor while the King of Darkness took a threatening step forward.

"You little pests. I find it hard to believe you two were able to land a strike, so I congratulate you for that." Ganondorf's plated boots crunched the pieces of rubble under his feet. Everything was still, and not even the large dragon watching the fight let out a growl. Where Link could achieve victory through courage of tenacity, Ganondorf was a being that didn't even need any of that. He was the mortal embodiment of power incarnate, and when something like that was bearing down on two hapless victims, the whole world was going to shut up fearfully and watch the carnage to come. "But isn't it obvious how outmatched you are?" Ganondorf continued, "Look at you, broken and bleeding; you can't even stand up." Another step, and Ganondorf brought his sword up deliberately. Precisely.

Link was still gasping and holding his throat, trying to see through his fogged, semi-conscious vision. Beside him, Vaati held his head in his hands, trying to quell the sharp, throbbing pain from the nasty hit he had taken earlier. The sorcerer was trying his best not to black out. "For the love of Nayru, what are you waiting for, wizzrobe?" Vaati hissed between his teeth.

"Hmph. Goodbye."

The air rippled. If there was one take home message from this entire, arduous adventure, it was that rippling air was a bad sign.

A crumpled bundle of pale white fabric popped into existence in front of Ganondorf. It was difficult to judge that it had been humanoid, once, since it had lost both of its arms, face, and other bits and pieces here and there. "I apologize it took so long, Lord Vaati. It took a while getting my bearings on our new destination," Thistle's voice came out somewhat warbled from within the cloth.

At the mention of a new destination, Vaati's head snapped around to try and figure out what the wizzrobe was referring to. The waving air that indicated Render's warp style flagged out in a wide, circular pattern, and ended right along the edge of a ring of runes. They were all sitting within the circle which was large enough to cover most of the area below the second set of stairs leading to the actual throne.

"I'll be going on a break with Lord Ganondorf only, Lord Vaati," Thistle chuckled upon seeing Link and Vaati's identical, concerned expressions. They were not willing to go on yet another time travelling ordeal. "I would have loved to take you, but I only have a ticket for two. I couldn't even afford a return trip."

"Insolent maggot!" Ganondorf roared and pierced his sword the remains of the robe. It didn't seem to bother Thistle one bit, however. He was falling apart already. Losing more bits didn't change anything.

"I think you can say I'd surpassed the great Dark Kings? Eh, what do you think, Lord Vaati?" It was pretty much impossible to distinguish any semblance of a person from the square-ish piece of cloth floating in the air that continued to gradually fade into a smaller square. "I think we'll be leaving. I doubt we'll meet again after this. I sure hope so – "

"I don't."

"– but in case we don't, let me just say this Lord Vaati: nothing is set in stone. You  _can_  change your fate." With an inch squared piece of cloth left, the piece waved and before Vaati and Link knew what had happened they had been warped outside of the ring of runes. Within the next instant, everything inside the circle appeared to melt into itself and then eventually vanished. Only the screams of rage from Ganondorf remained for some time before that, too, reverberated away.

There was a shattering nose as Zelda's crystal finally dissipated because Thistle had vanished, and the princess fell gently to the floor, unconscious but safe. Beside her, the glowing chains around the Render had also lost their magical reinforcements and had reverted back to normal steel. The dragon gave a faint growl before it arched its neck and slumped to the floor, finally free from Ganondorf's possession. Link quickly ran towards Zelda, ignoring the fact that his body still hurt from his fight with Ganondorf. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that the princess was unharmed, and for the first time in ages he allowed his shoulders to relax as he held her in his arms. He exchanged looks with the sorcerer, who had remained standing in front of the throne: it was over, wasn't it?

"Is it over?" Link asked. "Ganondorf's gone, isn't he?"

"I don't know," Vaati replied. It wasn't an answer that inspired much confidence, but at least it was truthful. There was always a chance someone like him could come back. Always. "But I would assume he is gone for good, lost in the temporal paradox that should wipe away every possible incarnation of him forever. In theory, at least," he added softly.

"Where did they go?"

"Not really sure. All he ever said was high above the heavens or to the depths of the earth, which I imagine is either above the atmosphere or miles beneath the ground. Not even I can survive that."

There was a somber quiet from the both of them as they both appeared to find it difficult to accept that they were finally done with their adventure, forever. Ganondorf was gone at long last, after all those days of wandering around, fighting one titan to the next just to reach him. It had been a nuisance, and although Vaati had incessantly complained at the beginning about how terrible his life had become, looking back it hadn't been all that bad. He'd eventually gotten used to the lifestyle, and now that there were no more monsters to chase and dungeons to conquer, he figured he might miss it a little. It was like how he might miss the annoying bustle and noise of the city after moving to the quiet countryside: sometimes the annoying things came to grow on you. And speaking of annoying, it was kind of a shame that Thistle had finally succumbed to the Light of Naveen. It had been his fault for being ridiculously reckless with magic, but at the same time that was something he could also relate to. Another was his obsession to kill them in his misguided idea that somehow, killing them would break him out of the rut of being low class; obsession was something Vaati was well acquainted with. It was almost as though the wizzrobe had made all of Vaati's mistakes before him so the sorcerer might be a little more careful in the future. It was something to think about… especially now that complete freedom was one warp away. All that was left to do was to wake Opal up and get her to take them home, as well as release the curse on Vaati. It was… over. Vaati turned that word around in his head, trying it, figuring it out. He'd never had many chances to use that word to describe anything. The word was bittersweet.

"So… we get to go home now?"

Vaati tilted his head at Link's voice, still kind of ragged from labored breathing. The mage rolled his eyes, but he was grinning despite himself. Vaati huffed, shook a thumb towards the unconscious dragon, and made a quick motion with his hands to tell the other boy to wake it up. Link gave a small smile, gently laid Zelda back down and made his way towards the dragon.

Neither of them expected the claw that sent Link colliding into the wall.

"Link!" Vaati exclaimed. The sorcerer stopped short in his tracks as he saw Opal's blue, snake-like eyes snap open. They were no longer the possessed yellow, but something was off about them: they looked down at Link, Vaati, and Zelda with pure menace. The chains that had held Opal down snapped easily now that they were no longer reinforced by magic.

"Snap out of it, we're not –" Vaati was cut short by a jet of flame that issued from the huge, fanged jaws. The heat radiated through the room and the curtains burst into orange flame. "What in Farore's name…"

" _Roooooaaar!_ " the dragon exploded in wrath and unfurled its wings as it prepared to take to the sky. Vaati ducked as the leathery wings hit the castle walls, causing flaming debris to begin falling dangerously around them. He made his way over to Link and tried to steady him.

"Link, can you stand?"

Link's eyes were somewhat unfocused and he stumbled against the sorcerer's arm. He took a few seconds to recover, and he became more alert with each crash near them. "Uh, I think so, what happened?"

"You were knocked back by Opal."

"I don't understand. I thought she wouldn't be possessed anymore."

The Render stopped roaring, and its eyes swiveled over to where Zelda still lay on the floor. Link and Vaati noticed, and they both tried to run over to where the princess was but it was too late. The dragon gave a mighty shout that sent them struggling against the force of wind, and at the same time Zelda was incased in a crystal once again. The Render's tail slammed in front of the two, preventing Link and Vaati from approaching any farther, and then the dragon picked up the trapped princess in its claws.

" _I will take this prize, puny Hylians,"_  Opal growled. Then, the dragon leaped upwards and crashed through the ceiling.

The castle shook, and Vaati and Link began to run towards the exit before the fire engulfed them. Link pulled the Master Sword from beneath some debris before he ran out of the castle. Once outside, the two coughed out some smoke and looked back at Hyrule castle now hidden in blaze. They could hear a distant roar from the dragon, but it was drowned away by the broken frames of the castle that screamed and groaned as it collapsed.

 _So much for the end_ , Link thought. He began to wonder if there really was an end at all. This whole adventure had begun from 'the end,' when he had first defeated Vaati at the Palace of Winds. Would he ever be able to see the real end, when he could just stop worrying about the next dungeon to track down and the next monster to defeat? He looked away from the flaming Hyrule Castle when he felt a firm pat on his shoulder.

"Come on," Vaati urged, his expression determined and resolute, "if we don't catch that dragon we'll be stuck here for the rest of our lives." He held his head high even though he wanted nothing more than to lie down and rest. "I'm not going to give up here. We're going to see this to the end."


	52. Lifted

Once again the two youths found themselves trudging along Hyrule field as they had when this whole ordeal had first began. Perhaps the biggest difference now, however, (except for the fact that they were now miles underwater), was that they no longer struggled against each other as they made their way to their next destination. Now they walked together with quiet acceptance of what they had to do.

Link rubbed the side of his arm where he'd been pretty badly bruised from the unexpected attack by Opal earlier. He wasn't really sure what they were going to do once they even caught up to the dragon: they needed to convince her somehow to take them back to the right era, but from the way the dragon had kidnapped the princess and had attacked them without hesitation, it was evident that getting back wasn't going to be as easy as it should have been. Link had been surprised by how different Opal had been compared to when he'd first met her. She had been difficult, sure, but he'd never had the impression that she'd be willing to kill them. He'd believed that she'd go back to being her annoying but somewhat friendly self once she'd been freed from Ganondorf, so why was she still proving to be dangerous now? "Why do you think Opal attacked us?" he asked Vaati.

The sorcerer stirred, taking his eyes off from their destination. About a mile ahead there was a small hill, and just beyond that hill was a disturbance in the air that was characteristic of the Render. The dragon was probably hiding somewhere nearby that hill. "I don't really know much," Vaati replied, "but my best guess is amnesia. It happens sometimes with possession, and considering how long she'd been possessed it could be very severe amnesia."

"But why would amnesia turn her into almost a completely different person… er, monster?"

Vaati gave a sour smile. "She wasn't always 'tame,' was she? What if she forgot –"

"- forgot what it was like to be okay with Hylians… oh." Link finished, realizing what the sorcerer was getting at. He remembered how Opal had mentioned offhandedly how the only reason why she didn't exactly go around killing people left and right was because she'd given up trying to win against the side with the hero's monster banishing sword. What if she'd forgotten all of that? The Render would go back to being one of the horrible ore class boss monsters that could level whole towns overnight, a monster on par with Argorok, Molgera, the Helmaroc King…

He couldn't say he was looking forward to fighting one of those things again, and to make things worse, this time they needed its help to set things right. He wondered if Vaati knew what they were going to do, because he sure didn't have any good plans at the moment. "So, what are we going to do when we catch up to her?"

The mage remained quiet for a couple of minutes before answering. From the looks of his expression, it seemed he didn't have much of an idea either. "I'm not sure, but we don't have any other choice than to follow right now. I'm hoping…" he faltered, "I'm hoping we can bring her back to her senses but if not…" he let the rest of the sentence trail off and Link looked at him, horrified.

"But that means we can't – "

"We'll think of that when the time comes," Vaati cut him off shortly. He shot the other boy a stern look: he didn't want to think about what it would mean if they couldn't go back. They didn't talk for a while, the only sound coming from the salt-crusted grass beneath their feet. The hill they were walking towards was a little closer now, and they could definitely see streaks in the air around it like a curtain hiding something behind it. The water flooded surroundings behind it made the whole scenery even more eerie.

"Why would she take Zelda?" Link wondered.

"She's a dragon. It's what dragons do," Vaati replied lazily as he walked forwards, never slowing his pace. He noticed Link looking at him, clearly unconvinced. "Look, dragons pretty much like to horde treasure. They usually guard something valuable. Princesses belong in the 'valuable' category especially since catching one can allow dragons to negotiate with kingdoms to trade for the entire treasury. Others just keep them for trophies. Others yet might eat them as well, I suppose."

"Uh," Link faltered in his steps a little at the mention of princesses being eaten, "is Zelda going to be eaten?"

Vaati didn't even turn around and ignored Link's worried tone. "And that is why we're making our way as quickly as possible." He continued on at his steady pace, but then he was startled when Link tugged his sleeve and broke into a run.

"Not nearly fast enough!" Link pulled on the half-stumbling sorcerer who was clumsily tripping over himself from the sudden burst of speed.

Vaati yanked his sleeves free, though he jogged after Link at a slightly slower pace. "We don't have to run," he objected.

"You don't know that!"

Vaati gave a disgruntled frown and half-heartedly attempted to catch up to Link who was gaining more ground. He didn't like running because it was tiring, his cape slowed him down, and he was going to be out of breath by the time they got to where they needed to go. In short he would look stupid, and he really didn't like stupid, but Link did have a point that they might not make it in time to save the princess. He didn't really care about the princess's fate all that much at the moment, getting his magic back had higher precedence, but he supposed if Link was going to run ahead without him like an idiot then he had no choice but to match his pace. The princess of Hyrule had better reward him handsomely for this.

Oh. Wait. She wanted to hang him, didn't she.

Vaati was spared from running much farther, however, when up ahead of him Link was forced to a complete halt as he had his feet knocked from under him by the tip of a black tail whipping by. Out of nowhere, the Render had warped in front of them with a smug, toothy grin. The sorcerer caught up to Link, the Wind Waker in his hand in case things became difficult.

" _Hah! I was wondering what you two would do, and it turns out you really were stupid enough to come after me,_ " the black dragon snorted. Even though she looked different than when they had first met, she still sounded just as bratty and obnoxious. " _You had the look of those foolish heroic types who think they can save something that is beyond saving."_

"Actually I just want you to get rid of this curse you placed on me," Vaati interjected sourly, "and maybe take me back to the right era while you're at it."

"Give Zelda back!"

"Oh, and, I do agree that he's the foolish hero type. Just don't lump me together with him," Vaati finished flatly, jutting a thumb towards Link who was looking wildly around for Zelda who was nowhere in sight.

It wasn't really appropriate to find it funny given the situation, Vaati thought, but he couldn't help finding himself amused when the dragon's huge jaws hung open and its eyes wandered, trying to process the unexpected response. She had expected some kind of declaration that they'll defeat her or something cliché like that, but instead that purple-clad Hylian had corrected her. " _What? Curse? Era?"_  The dragon's eyes swiveled from Link to Vaati in utter confusion. It paused and then brought its snout forward with a sullen glare, allowing them a chance to explain, but they could tell that one wrong move would encourage an attack: the Render's neck was coiled back like a rubber band stretched taut, ready to snap any moment. The dragon's snout was curled into a partial growl.

"Yes, a curse. I am the Sorcerer of Winds, and you placed a looped curse on me so that I can no longer cast spells. You were going to remove it from me, but because of complicated circumstances, you weren't able to do so." Vaati shoved his wrists in front of the dragon, demanding to have the curse removed. "Now that you're back to your senses, remove the curse at once."

Link didn't like the way the dragon's eyes had narrowed. It brought its head closer to take a look at Vaati's wrists. " _I'm familiar of the curse of which you speak, but I recall no such events of which you describe_."

"You're suffering from amnesia," Vaati did his best not to take a step back. This was almost like that time when he had faced Argorok down: the worst thing you could do when dealing with monsters of any kind was to do anything that could be interpreted as fear. It was still pretty difficult, however, when his face was only half an arm's length away from huge, yellow-stained fangs.

" _If I placed a curse on you in the first place, then I must have had a good reason to do so. Why should I remove it now? In fact, why should I help any Hylians at all, hmmm? You lot are the weak race that is bound to lose against the Darkness,_ " Opal sneered. She slammed her claw forward, and in his surprise, Vaati stumbled backwards.

The sorcerer pushed Link away who had come to help him up, and scowled in impatience at the dragon who was now laughing at him. "Darkness has lost, you fool! You've just forgotten. The goddesses reign, and the monsters have all but retreated," he snapped.

" _What did you just say?"_ Opal snarled, immediately ceasing her laughter.

"Opal! Don't you remember us? You said you'd given up fighting against us a long time ago! You said you wanted to help Vaati to repay him back for helping you! Please, we don't want to fight you, just take us back!" Link pleaded. Their situation was about as bright as the bottom of Hyrule's swamp.

The dragon stared at Link for a while, and then turned its neck to consider the sorcerer instead. It appeared to be going over what the hero had just said, and for a moment the two adventurers were hopeful that maybe, just maybe the dragon had regained its memory.

"The curse," Vaati spoke again, softly, uncomfortable from being under the scrutiny of something with teeth that were almost as tall as him.

The Render's lips parted into a thin smile. The dragon whispered, still with its crocodile grin. " _You two are starting to piss me off."_  The soft, low growl quickly turned into a menacing roar and the dragon lurched into the air, circling above them.

The two travelers remained where they were, their gazes turned up towards the water-ridden sky where the dragon soared overhead. The air rippled out in a sharp shockwave, and within a few seconds small droplets of salt water drizzled down from above. The soft grass beneath their feet turned to stone and the rest of the earth crumbled to the depths below until only a circular platform was left. The battlefield was set. There was only one path left to take.

Link slowly brushed away the cool droplets that rolled down his cheek with his hand, and hesitated to reach over his back for his sword. "What are we going to do now?" he whispered to Vaati.

The sorcerer slowly turned his eyes to his feet, and his voice could barely be heard. "We kill it."

"But…"

"Link, we might not go back."

"But there has to be a way." Link watched as the watery sky fell to form colossal waterfalls that trapped them on the platform. Beside him, Vaati remained silent as the dragon in the distance turned around to begin charging them. The sorcerer's expression was hidden by his bangs. "Vaati, aren't you worried at all?"

Finally, the mage looked him in the eyes. The red eyes had lost their glint and now appeared sunken with a faraway gaze. "Goddesses, yeah I'm worried," he finally replied, somewhat hoarsely. "But you just have to accept these things sometimes, Link. I hope you like the ocean, boy." The sorcerer chuckled, and took out the Wind Waker for their final battle as allies. "At least I can punish that lizard for all the misfortunes she's caused me."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

There was a rush of wind as the dragon zipped by and slammed the ground they had been standing on with its thick tail. The stone beneath them cracked, sending shards exploding everywhere. Vaati blocked the stone with a wind wall summoned by the Wind Waker, while Link brought up his shield. Just as they were recovering from the attack, the giant had swung around to blast them with a burst of blue flame. The fire screamed past as they barely jumped out of its way, and Link watched with horror-filled fascination as the flame's pathway caused the air to bend in on itself and distort space. Along the charred trail was a line of strange objects: a gnarled tree, a postbox, a part of a house, and even half a moblin that stumbled forward before it disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. The collection of things that had been forced to warp wisped away as they disintegrated into the air.

Link didn't want to think about what would happen to him if the dragon's attack ever hit him. He whirled around, trying to see where the Render had flown off to. The dragon was high above, unreachable with his sword, and he thought he could see a faint trace of a sneer as it looked down on them. He needed to find a weak spot, but what could it be? It didn't have those huge eyes that were obvious weak spots for him to take advantage of.

_Huge eyes…_

Link stole a glance at the sorcerer.

_I guess we have enough big flying eyeballs around here._

Link saw that Vaati held both of his hands in front of him and appeared to be readying a spell of some kind. Opal noticed as well, and the dragon immediately snarled and folded its wings along its side to dive towards the sorcerer. The Render wasn't about to let Vaati finish whatever spell he was going to cast.

It was too late, however, for as soon as the dragon was near enough the sorcerer threw down the hand clutching the Wind Waker. A powerful wind slammed down like a cannon shot, pushing savagely against the dragon's wings. The dragon roared as it was forced to fold its wings and land in front of Link.

Upon seeing Vaati give him a short nod, Link dashed towards the fallen beast and plunged the sword into its neck. The Master Sword, however, barely penetrated the black scales and Link couldn't tell if the dragon even took any damage. He retreated back to the sorcerer as the dragon reared on its hind legs and faced them down with its full height.

"It didn't work."

Vaati scowled. "I should've known." He jumped out of the way as another space distorting blast of flame blew past them. "It's probably invincible except for one weak spot, like many of the high level monsters."

Link tried to swat down some stalfos that had appeared with the distortion, but they disappeared as quickly as they had come. He realized too late that the skeleton soldiers had only acted as a distraction when a scaly claw came rushing towards him. Link braced himself for the impact, but was saved when he was flown several feet into the air from Vaati's last-minute cyclone.

"Watch yourself," Vaati barked sharply when the hero had landed safely next to him. He was going to go back on focusing on the dragon trying to kill them when he noticed Link with his gaze to his sword, his expression hard with determination. The sorcerer sent a small tornado towards Opal to distract her momentarily. "You've thought of something," he nodded his head towards Link.

"I saw something when I passed over the dragon on your cyclone," Link's grip tightened around his sword, "it was on its back, just between its wings. I think it's the weak spot." His chin tilted upwards towards the monster towering over them, a good story up in the air. "Can you take me up there?"

Vaati's eyes widened in surprise, and then quickly turned stern. "You know what the risks are?"

Link nodded.

"You're going to be vulnerable until you make it there."

"It's all right, I trust you. You're not trying to kill me right now," Link joked half-heartedly. Vaati muttered and rolled his eyes, and then raised his hands to set up a cyclone. Just as he did so, the ground left their feet and they suddenly found themselves in midair.

But it wasn't Vaati's doing. "Where…?" Link trailed off, disoriented from being up in the air without warning. He spun slowly as he began to fall back down, and looked directly towards the open jaws fully prepared to roast them with fire.  _The Render uses warping… it warped us to an exposed position!_  "Vaati!" Link warned.

The sorcerer had noticed by then, and was already prepared with his cyclone. "Go! Now!" Vaati shouted as one cyclone flew Link towards the back of the monster. The sorcerer just barely avoided the blast of fire with another cyclone that pushed him away from its trajectory. It seemed pretty unfair to Vaati for a dragon to use warping like that: if he hadn't been able to summon cyclones, they would have been caught in the full blast of the fire.

Link kept his eyes on the monster's weak spot while Vaati's wind maneuvered him between the powerful wings and towering spines along the dragon's back. Just between its shoulders was a white iridescent stone about a foot in diameter. If he could just smash through it with his sword then they could probably win.

" _Grrroaaaar!"_  The Render's neck snapped around to catch Link with its jaws.

"Oh no you don't," Vaati growled. With a few flicks of the Wind Waker, wind magic swirled around his left arm which then transformed into the enormous dark claw of his final form. He flew upwards towards the dragon's head and slammed the claw down so that its neck crashed onto the ground. The two struggled for a few minutes, but Vaati wasn't strong enough to hold the dragon down for long. The Render shook him free, and closed its jaws around Vaati's black claw. "Aaah!"

While the dragon was preoccupied with Vaati, Link had a clear path to the stone. The hero brought his sword between his feet and fell down, the tip of the sword breaking through the shimmering white. Straddling the stone with his knees to keep his balance, Link brought the sword up and struck down again. A faint spider line crack webbed across the surface of the stone where it had been hit. Just one more strike. The sword came down again and this time, the stone gave way and the blade became lodged inside.

There was a piercing shriek as the dragon writhed, releasing Vaati's arm from its hold and shook Link off its back, the Master Sword still lodged within the cracked stone. Purple smoke bled through its cracks like blood spilling out of a wound. Ironically, the only thing that held the stone together was the sword that had broken it, and if Link could just pull it out then they would have defeated the Render for good.

For good… they were going to be stuck here, weren't they, for good?

There was an explosive crash as Vaati used all of his energy to throw the dragon headfirst into the ground with his transformed claw. Dazed, the Render slumped down. All Link had to do was to walk up to it and pull the Master Sword out of its back. Panting, Vaati's arm transformed back to normal and he caught Link's gaze. "Do it Link. The sword."

Link hesitated. If he pulled the sword, there was no going back. They were going to be stuck here forever. He wasn't even sure they could return to the surface world. Was he ready for this?

" _Wait. Do not kill me yet."_

The two jumped at the sudden voice of the dragon. Its teeth rattled and it struggled to turn its head towards the sorcerer, and it gave up when it proved to be too much of an effort to move.  _"How stupid of me. I remember now. You're Vaati."_

"You remember – " Link began, overjoyed with relief. He was cut short, however, by Vaati's harsh tone. The wind mage was still completely on edge.

"Don't trust what a dragon says," Vaati hissed. His left arm hung limp along his side, bleeding slightly from the bite from earlier.

Opal chuckled in ragged gasps. " _That's very true. But this time I'm honest. To prove it I'll remove the curse…"_ Groaning, the dragon rolled its neck so that it could at least see Vaati. It squinted its eyes for some time, and then it flashed an electric blue. At the same time, Vaati could feel a feathery sensation moving across his wrists. The glowing runes that had sucked away his magic were unraveling one by one until finally the last rune shattered into a burst of blue light. The sorcerer held his breath, and in his awe he didn't notice that the Wind Waker had dropped between his fingers and onto the ground.

He was… back? He was really back?

" _I'm so sorry,"_ the dragon continued in a raspy whisper,  _"I thought I could repay you for freeing me from my prison and look at what I've done."_ Opal fell into a fit of laughter that died down into a pained grimace. The smoke was now rising up from between her scales as well. " _If I had known this would happen… if I had any idea… I would have… given you back your magic back in the jail cell. I'm sorry."_

Vaati turned away. He didn't really feel comfortable with apologies. "Take us back."

" _Of course."_ With a labored breath the dragon pushed itself back onto its claws with a final effort. " _I will take you back. If you… would like… I can leave the hero here to die… and he will never… bother you again, Vaati."_

Link, who had been watching the whole exchange a few feet away, froze. He turned his gaze towards Vaati who, for a fleeting moment had appeared stunned at the idea, and then had resumed to take on an expressionless face. Link glanced at the dragon that regarded him coolly as it stood, dying.  _Never trust a dragon._ Maybe it had been foolish of him to assume that Opal would help him at all when they had caught up to her. Her allegiance had been with no one except Vaati, and only then it had been because of a debt. Maybe he had assumed she would help him because a part of him didn't think they had to be fighting all the time. Just like what he'd thought about Vaati.  _I never learn, do I…_

"No, he comes with me." Vaati's voice finally rang through the air, causing both the dragon and Link to look at him sharply with surprise on their faces.

_Vaati._

" _You're sure of this?"_  the dragon's eyes widened in surprise and curiosity.

"I don't need anyone's help to defeat him."

Link looked at his feet somewhat sadly, while the dragon continued to regard the sorcerer with mild disbelief. Vaati still had that stone masked expression that made him difficult to read, and he stared the dragon down with a look that demanded, 'do you have a problem with that.'

Opal gave up and chuckled lightly. " _I see… then… good luck. You will find… the princess back at… the castle…"_

The surroundings began to shift and the watery landscape began to disappear. Tall rocks of a mountain crag and the sound of the crashing ocean filled their ears. It was Dragon Roost Island. They remained there briefly before it melted successively into an endless expanse of sea, and then into a bustling island with a windmill.

_Dragon Roost Island, The Great Sea, Windfall Island…_

A pang of nostalgia and the bitter sweetness of the end shot through Link's heart. They were going through the places they had been during their whole adventure. It had never really hit him, how many places they had gone to and how many things they had experienced, the people they had met, until now.

_The Tower of Gods, the Temple of Time, Ordon…_

It was really over now, wasn't it? They weren't going to be chasing after Ganondorf anymore. They weren't going to argue over where to go next, or figure out how to find a way back home.

_The City in the Sky, the Forest Temple, Telma's Bar…_

He remembered the beginning, when he and Vaati had struggled to cooperate. The times when they had tried to hinder each other out of spite, like when Vaati had tried to get the Hylian guards to thrown him in jail, or when they had scuffled over sharing his weapons. They'd come a long way since then.

They weren't going to be allies anymore.

_Hyrule field…_

" _I'm sorry. Vaati… will you… forgive me?"_

The sun was high above their heads and the grass swayed gently in the breeze. Far in the distance was the Hyrule Castle Link had grown up in. The town square was probably bustling with people by now. Link took a step towards Vaati who still stood by the flattened grass where Opal had been. The dragon had disappeared with the signature puff of dark purple smoke, and the Master Sword had plopped onto the ground. The mage was staring at his hands.

"Vaati, we made it." Link couldn't shake off the foolishness he felt for saying this. Their last battle didn't feel like a victory, and though they were back home, Link couldn't feel anything but sadness. All this time, he had thought the adventure would end with Opal alive with them; his goal had been to save her and Zelda from Ganondorf, not kill her for Din's sake. And… that wasn't the worst of it.

Link looked at the motionless sorcerer. "Vaati… let's go."

No longer bound by the curse, Vaati continued to stare at his hands.


	53. Farewell

It was an uncomfortably quiet walk to Hyrule Castle. Link was eager to return to the castle to see if Zelda was safe, but he also knew what that would mean for Vaati. Link would either be forced to defeat the sorcerer he had fought alongside with, or he would be forced to take the mage to his public hanging. The chosen hero took a look over his shoulder and watched Vaati trudging slowly behind, still passively staring at his hands. It seemed as though the mage had lost all motivation to do anything: he had yet to cast even a few spells with the magic he had regained. The topic on what they would have to face once they really  _did_  manage to succeed in returning was something they had avoided the whole time they had been together. Of course Vaati had thrown around a few comments on how he was going to kill him during their adventure, but seeing how ghostly the sorcerer was now, it was obvious it wasn't as easy as that. Link wondered if the sorcerer knew what was going to happen to him when they reached Hyrule Castle.

"Vaati, I'll promise to leave you alone if you don't cause any trouble for us. You don't have to come to Hyrule," Link hinted.

Vaati snorted irritably, the first response that Link had heard him make after they had returned to the right time period. After that, however, the mage lapsed into silence once more and Link got the message that he didn't plan to speak for the rest of the walk.

The sky was clear and cloudless, and Link supposed it should have been the perfect day to rejoice. It should have been, except he didn't know what to do with the infamous sorcerer. Quietly treading behind him with his head tilted slightly downwards, Vaati was in deep thought about something, but about what he couldn't tell. Link wished he could get a read on the sorcerer. What was Vaati going to do? Did the sorcerer really mean to fight him, still? Vaati could have very easily gotten rid of him by agreeing with Opal not to send him home with him, but he hadn't. Was the desire to fight him one on one really the only reason why he'd been spared? He'd thought that Vaati really did mean to fight him after the sorcerer snapped with the Helmaroc incident…

But then why did Vaati look so defeated already, like he didn't care anymore?

And why did Link have to care about what happened to the sorcerer who had caused so much trouble?

_Because he's…_

Link stopped walking when he came in sight of the castle gates. There was a crowd waiting for them in hushed quiet, and a few people were wringing their hands together. It was a decent gathering, and all faces were turned to the two of them expectantly.  _So, I guess someone had seen that I had 'caught' Vaati,_  Link thought gloomily as his eyes moved toward the castle watchtowers. He felt something brush past him rather rudely and noticed the wordless sorcerer continue onwards towards the crowd, staring blankly ahead. Link hurriedly jogged to catch up to him as Vaati moved closer to the mass of waiting people.

"Wait up!" Link called, and tugged on Vaati's cape to stop him from running into the crowd. The people gathered at the castle gates suddenly rushed forward as they got a better sight of Link. "Everyone, stop! I've got everything under control!" Link called frantically as he ran between the surging mass of people and the lone mage. He wasn't ready for this! They were going to catch Vaati and hang him! Their arms reached out towards the sorcerer hungrily like the poor begging for bread. Then, another thought hit Link.

These people didn't know that Vaati was back to full power.

Link whirled around, this time to stop Vaati. He didn't know if Vaati would attack the townspeople out of defense, and with this large crowd many people would be hurt by a single devastating spell. Link was violently shoved away as Vaati scowled and pushed him over, glaring. At the same time, however, there was a glassy appearance to his gaze as though the sorcerer wasn't focused at all: it was an indifferent expression as though he could care less what happened to him.

Was he seriously going to turn himself in?  _Why?_

"Vaati, no!"

Link reached out for the sorcerer, and the people were only a few feet away from them now. He watched as Vaati brought his hands up in front of his face in defense, and then watched in shock as the crowd slowed before them and began to bow their heads and murmur prayers and blessings.

"Thank you for saving us, lad," a man stepped past Vaati and bowed his head towards Link who stood dumbfounded. "We were frightened when we heard about the rise of the King of Darkness. It wasn't the sorcerer who was behind the mischief but Ganondorf himself! We give you our deepest thanks for saving Hyrule from his grip."

"I…" Link faltered. His eyes darted to the mage who was by now swamped with people.

Vaati appeared dazed, and he no longer had his arms up to his face but they had lowered, confused. Several of the crowd shook his hand and patted him on the back as they praised their thanks. "You must have helped the hero, seeing you were with him," a beaming woman spoke in awe as she also dipped her head in a respectful bow. Vaati could only nod as he had lost his voice. The woman continued, "Then we owe you thanks as well." Someone broke into a cheer, and the crowd began to whoop and holler in a growing crescendo of applause. There was a call to let the two through and a path opened before Link and Vaati into the town square and towards the main castle. The two made slow progress as people continued to shake their hands and offer blessings as they made their way towards the castle. Up above, the cloudless sky was as perfect as it could be.

XXXXXXXXXXX

When Link and Vaati arrived at the castle, they found the princess speaking earnestly with a confused guard at the top of the stairs of the throne room. She appeared to be asking if anyone knew where Link had gone. As she heard the doors swing open, she turned around to see Link and Vaati step through.

"Link!"

The hero was nearly thrown off his feet as Zelda ran down the stairs and hugged him tightly. Link squeezed her back, on the verge of tears as relief swept over him. He had thought that he would never see his childhood friend again. He treasured the warmth of the hug: she was real.

It was only when Zelda slowly pushed him away from the embrace with her gaze steeling as she looked over his shoulder that Link remembered that Vaati was there as well. The sorcerer had respectfully kept his distance from them, waiting at the bottom of the stairs of the throne room instead of joining then at the top. The princess watched Vaati with accusation, and her hands shook as they tensed, perhaps from remembering all that he had made her go through while she had been his captive.

Vaati matched her gaze, and for the first time since he and Link had returned to Hyrule he gave a semblance of a smile. It was more of a smirk, and it was a bitter one at that. "Hello, princess. Are you excited to see me?"

"Link, why is he here?" she asked, turning to Link for answers.

"The princess is the only sensible one here, it seems," Vaati laughed in a way that suggested he had given up on the world, "no one else here understands anymore. What's to stop me from taking over the castle, Link? I was escorted here so nicely by you and those idiots outside. Will you stop me?" The sorcerer demanded. "Will  _you?"_

The hero sighed, and then turned to look at the sorcerer who still had that harsh sneer on his face. A few weeks ago he probably wouldn't have recognized something off with Vaati's question. A few weeks ago, he wouldn't have noticed that if it had been the same sorcerer he had fought at the Palace of Winds at the very beginning of this mess, Vaati wouldn't have asked Link if he would stop him.

Vaati wouldn't have bothered asking: he simply would have told Link he couldn't be stopped.

But with days of being around the sorcerer for so long, Link  _did_  notice that this wasn't the same sorcerer as the one he had fought in the beginning. Vaati wasn't challenging him – he wanted someone to stop him.

Link felt Zelda touch his shoulder, and then move her hands toward the sword in the hilt attached to the belt around her dress, but the young hero stopped her. He shook his head to the surprise of both the princess and the sorcerer. "No, I won't stop you," he answered Vaati.

"Then Hyrule will fall by my hand!" Vaati gritted his teeth and his hands clenched. The room brightened as powerful energy spheres spun by his palms.

"I won't stop you because you won't do that and you know it!" Link raised his voice.

Everyone was at a standstill for several interminable seconds. Then, very carefully, Zelda was the first to move and she released her hold on her sword which she had reached for earlier. Vaati's expression wavered, and the magic spheres vanished and he let his arms fall to his sides.

Without another word, Vaati left the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Vaati lay alone on the rich downy bed of the castle chamber he had been given. He'd been there for a half hour, just lying on his back and staring at the ceiling. He hadn't even bothered to take his sandals off.

The castle hands had stopped him in the castle hallway just as he had been wandering around after leaving the throne room. They had then escorted him to a spacious chamber that he could have all to himself, and they had later explained that it was the princess's wish that he stay there as long as he liked and to make himself as comfortable as he wanted.

He knew, of course, that "princess's wish" was most likely Link's. He doubted she would be so gracious after everything he had done to Hyrule.

 _Everything he had done._ The people here thought he was the same as Link now, a damned hero. Maybe it really was the princess's wish, since there would be too many questions and would look bad on the kingdom to place someone who had won high opinions from its citizens in a jail cell. Even though he had threatened to attack them earlier at the throne room, he hadn't, so they didn't have a valid reason to imprison him again. And why hadn't he? The sorcerer sighed loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose. The reasons were complicated. He had to go about this carefully this time, and he couldn't rush into it impulsively. If he didn't put much thought about it and had immediately attacked Link, he would have lost all opportunities for the second chance he had gained. He had more options now, such as  _not_  leading an exciting life of terror and domination but leading a rather boring one involving being left alone by everyone imaginable. And frankly, a couple of years of boring didn't sound all that bad.

And like all problems with complicated reasons, there was also a simple reason: he hadn't fought because he just hadn't wanted to.

Creases lined Vaati's forehead. This whole mess, from the very beginning to the very end, was still incredibly stupid. It was that dragon's fault. Opal had messed everything up, from the part where she had cursed away his sorcery to the part where she had taken them back to the 'wrong' time period.

Yep, that was right. 'Wrong' time period. She had taken them back to the time just before he had been placed in jail and before he had been sentenced to hang; the time before Hyrule knew who the short, purple-caped mage was. No one recognized him as he was now. And now they thought he was their savior because they had seen him with Link. How ironic; before, they had wanted nothing more than to see him dead, but now they were taking his hands in theirs and blessing him with thanks.

The Render must have thought she had been doing him a favor to send him back to this particular time. She must have thought he would have been thankful to avoid having to deal with the whole country looking to hang him. Of course it was nice, being able to relax in a soft fluffy bed without being interrupted by anyone looking to kill him, but at the same time it annoyed him. It annoyed him because he had sealed his fate to be with the Darkness ever since he had taken the wishing cap and become the most powerful sorcerer in the world… No one like him was supposed to get second chances.

_Nothing is set in stone. You CAN change your fate._

Vaati frowned. Of all the voices to be reminded of, it just had to be that one; mischievous, mocking, and very faintly giggly, it was that wizzrobe's. He rolled over on his side and picked at the edge of his freshly washed sheets until he had made a small wrinkled crease in the corner. It folded back and eventually the crease vanished, good as new.

"Hah, but were you even able to change yours?" he thought aloud, thinking back on the ambitious wizzrobe they had met. It was impressive that a monster of its caste had even made it so far as to be involved with Ganondorf's demise, but at the end of the day, no one but him and Link would ever know that a wizzrobe had been capable of being more than just a wizzrobe. To the world, wizzrobes were just wizzrobes and everything remained unchanged…

It was kind of sad, when he thought about it. A wizzrobe, sick of being bound by the rigid rules dictated by hierarchy, had met its end thinking it had succeeded in breaking free.

But really, it hadn't.

It had tried so hard, too, Vaati thought as he let his one arm dangle off the side of his bed. He brought his face closer to the corner of the bed sheets he had folded earlier. The crease he had thought had vanished was in fact still there, though extremely faintly. It was difficult to find unless one was actually looking for it.

Vaati rolled over again, this time with his face down in the pillow.  _Did the wizzrobe really fail though?_  A thought nagged in his head. If the only thing the wizzrobe wanted was self-validation, then didn't it succeed regardless of what the world still thought? And even if it couldn't change the world's ideas overnight, it could at least affect some of its opinions no matter how small the audience. He tossed over on his back again with a frown still etched on his face.

Fate… it was just an excuse, wasn't it. It was a tool people could use so they could validate their own arguments, so that they could live comfortably in misery instead of struggle for contentment. Maybe that wizzrobe had recognized that earlier than he had? He could just have easily said it was fate he could never be with Darkness because he was originally with Light, and then argued away using examples of how he had betrayed the Helmaroc King and had rejected Dethl. He was using the excuse of Fate to give up on forgiveness.

"I don't deserve this," Vaati mumbled to no one in particular. He was used to being hated and feared. He was used to having no one care. Now everyone appeared to like him and he felt like throwing up all over the royal carpet.

 _Vaati, Vaati, Vaati. You were always so hard on yourself,_  a nagging, squawky voice rang in his head.

Vaati's frown fell into a scowl. "Shut up old man. The dead don't speak."

Ezlo's voice tittered.  _Of course they don't, stupid boy. I'm from your imagination. However, it's true you were the one who gave yourself so much anguish when you had been studying under me. You always thought you were doing something wrong._

"One can always improve on something. And who are you to tell me I actually studied under you? You never taught me a damn thing except that it was too early for me to learn anything," Vaati spat bitterly.

 _You're right, I suppose,_  the voice sighed.  _I wonder if you knew how much you meant to me though…_

"A right slave. 'Fetch me my tea, boy.' 'Yes master Ezlo.'" Vaati mimicked sarcastically. "I was worth a lot, I bet."

_You were the son I never had. I was never good at showing affection, I admit. But I was afraid…_

"Afraid that I would break something? Afraid that I would mess up? Or perhaps afraid that I would become better than you?"

_Afraid that you would get hurt…_

"You would have no use with a hurt servant."

_Afraid that I would lose you…_

"Ha. Then you would have no one to clean the floor."

_One mistake in a spell, one accident and I would have lost you forever._

"You bloody fool."

_I was wrong, Vaati. You left me anyway because of my blindness. I was stupid, and I had never let you do anything. I realize that now. I paid for it when I saw what you had become when you took the Minish Cap. The Vaati I had known died a different way that day, and ever since then I have been torn apart._

"And good riddance. I was a naïve fool, just like the rest of you. I'm better the way I am now."

Ezlo chuckled sadly.  _No, Vaati. I don't think I will ever be forgiven for the crime I committed against you. I led you to a path that will lead to your destruction – a path that condemned you to die someday in the hands of a hero._ The old sage heaved another heavy sigh.  _But by some miraculous happenstance you no longer have to lead the life that I caused you to pursue. You don't have to be evil anymore, Vaati._

Vaati was sitting up straight by now. "That's enough. Shut up old man."

_I died in grief and shame for the injustice I caused you…_

"You deserved it."

_I want you to do yourself a favor…_

"Don't tell me what to do!" Vaati snarled. He shot a spell at an ornate vase perched on top of the dresser and blasted it against the wall. It shattered to pieces, leaving a mess on the floor and a black char stain on the wall.

_Let go, Vaati. Take the chance the girl gave you. You can still be good._

Ezlo's voice faded away and Vaati gripped his hands in a tight fist. He angrily punched the air before slowly relaxing his hands. He flopped onto the bed and continued to stare at the ceiling, going over the imaginary conversation he had had with his dead master.

_You can still be good._

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So you think we can afford to give Vaati a chance," Zelda spoke softly as Link finished his tale. They were walking around the castle garden as the weather was too perfect to stay indoors.

Link nodded. "I think so." He could understand why she would still be wary of the wind mage. After all, she had been his captive and she probably hadn't had the best experience there. The princess seemed tense about the whole situation, but he was glad that she appeared understanding: actually, she appeared relieved they wouldn't actually have to go through with Hyrule's old-fashioned tradition of hanging criminals. Considering it was a lot to ask to allow a previously infamous villain on the loose, Princess Zelda was handling this incredibly well.

"I see," her steps slowed as she walked next to Link thoughtfully. She struggled with the concept for a few seconds longer, and then she took a deep breath, closing her eyes to prepare herself for what she was about to say. After all, the sorcerer wasn't causing any trouble so far, even though he could have done so hours ago. "I understand. You were with him longer than I, and I've always trusted your judgment on people." She opened her eyes and reached for his hand in reassurance. "I can rely on you when the time comes, right Link?"

Link nodded. "Definitely. Though I hope that time never comes."

The wind picked up and the spring flowers ruffled around them. The dainty snowdrops bowed to the wind and the bomb flowers that were just beginning to bloom shook against the brief gust. Zelda stopped walking as she noticed Vaati with his back turned to them at the end of the garden in the distance, and Link followed her gaze.

He squeezed her hand back reassuringly. "Zelda, can you wait for me here?" he darted off before waiting for Zelda to give him an answer.

Link slowed as he neared the sorcerer, and he didn't even hesitate as he came up next to him. They stood next to each other without saying a word for several minutes, each just listening to the soft rustle of wind and perhaps wondering what to say. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, however. It was a silence with a mutual understanding that there wasn't much more that needed to be said.

Finally, Vaati broke the silence with a voice full of finality.

"I'm leaving."

The wind tugged against Link's hat, making him hold onto the brim to keep it from flying off. "I thought you might say that." He turned to observe the mage whose face was hidden by his bangs. It had been… a rough adventure to say the least. Times filled with doubt and uncertainty that he was doing the right thing, times filled with despair at the inevitability of their differences: sometimes he had been on the brink of giving up. But then… Vaati hadn't fought him. They were both still here, alive, and not clawing at each other's throats. He remembered what Valoo had reminded him at Dragon Roost Island; he needed the courage to trust the future and to believe in the moment. Everything was going to be fine. He could resolve things if he was needed again in the future. Link relaxed. Peace began when both sides had the courage to believe in each other, without being paranoid of what may come. "You know," Link began tentatively, surprising even himself at what he was about to suggest, "if you want, you're always welcome to come back to Hyrule."

Vaati sharply faced Link, crinkling his nose in disdain. "You idiot." They kept a deadpan expression until smiles both cracked on their lips and they exploded in laughter. The Chose Hero  _inviting_ a power crazed evil mage into Hyrule? A few weeks ago, Link's statement would have been unheard of. In the distance, Princess Zelda, who had been watching the two of them, smiled softly and then turned around to return to the castle. It seemed that there was nothing to worry about.

When the laughter finally died down, Vaati spoke again, calmly. "Link, I think I owe you an apology."

"What's this? The Great Vaati is apologizing? We're doomed."

Vaati waved him away, frowning in annoyance. "I promised to kill you and yet I failed to keep my promise. For that, I'm sorry."

"Now that's more familiar," Link grinned. Vaati huffed, and sent a small gust that knocked Link off his feet. Link laughed and brushed himself off. With a big grin, he reminisced about the beginning. "Hey Vaati? Remember when we first got into this mess? Goddesses we got in each other's way so much. You almost put me in jail and everything."

"Yeah. Wish the guards had actually locked you up."

"And you wouldn't have made it five paces out of Hyrule before Argorok caught you."

"Don't be ridiculous," Vaati snapped. Then, he added with an uncharacteristic sheepish grin, "I would have made fifty." He sighed, and considered his hands, no longer bound by the dragon's curse. "It's good to have my magic back. You wouldn't understand."

"I can imagine," Link smiled. "So, no more boomerangs?"

"No."

"No batons?"

"Nope."

"I'll admit I'm going to kind of miss that," the hero chuckled lightly, "even though you did threaten to use my own weapons against me. It was kind of fun not having to adventure alone." Then, the boy stuck out his hand to the mage. "I'm glad I got to know you. As a person, I mean, and not just some mindlessly evil monster."

There was a pause in the conversation as they lapsed into silence once more. It seemed as though the mage wasn't going to take Link's hand, and a look of fleeting disgust passed the sorcerer's face. However, the expression was momentary and the mage sighed, eventually shaking the other boy's hand. Vaati hesitated as he tried to find the right words. He fiddled with the tip of his cape, and his feet fidgeted uncomfortably. Finally, Vaati muttered something and rolled his eyes in exasperation.

With a snap of his fingers, the wind swirled around the sorcerer and Vaati levitated off the ground. It was a momentary stunning display as the droplets of water that had collected on the buds shimmered up with the wind, reflecting light off onto the petals that had also caught the breeze. "Link."

Link looked up and shielded his eyes from the sun. The wind was stronger now, flapping the mage's cape in sweeping gusts. Vaati gave his trademark wicked grin and a faint blue glow outlined his silhouette.

"May we never meet again."

There was a flash of light and Vaati vanished into the air, leaving Link completely alone. The wind stopped abruptly and the air became still. Not even the fragile grass wavered, and it was eerily quiet without a single rustle of the leaves brushing against each other. Link brought his fingers to his face out of habit of brushing his bangs away from his eyes, but then realized there wasn't a breeze to tangle his hair or whip them around his forehead.

The hero thought about his adventure with the sorcerer while staring at the empty space where Vaati had been. A brief emptiness welled up and he smiled regretfully that this was in fact the end, and that the sorcerer hadn't decided to stay. At the same time, he was glad that things hadn't ended the way he had feared. Maybe for Vaati, Link had been the closest thing to a friend he'd had for a long time, if ever. Link liked to think they were something like friends… It was probably for the better that they didn't meet again, but he hoped that maybe one day they would run into each other. Not at some dungeon or during some crisis, but maybe somewhere like the castle town market: he'd catch a glimpse of the sorcerer, maybe making his way to the library. They might exchange glances, give a small wave, and then they'd go about their own business. All they'd need was an acknowledging nod to know that they were both doing well in life, and neither had to take up their swords or sorcery.

If only, right?

"Bye Vaati," the boy whispered to the empty air.

In a remote place, somewhere, a breeze began to blow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (the following is a copy of the message I posted in ff.net)  
> Credits! Now go listen to Heart of Courage while I babble on for the last time...  
> fleets: And that's it. Rend is finished after almost exactly 2 years. When I first started this rewrite in 2010, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I thought at first that it was going to be a plain old rewrite with the same exact plot. I could never have anticipated the different twists this story would throw me into, with the whole new cast and brand new take on the various relationships.  
> Actually I am floored that it had been a 2 year project to complete this, and absolutely speechless that some of you old timers have followed me for those two years, and more! I would like to take the time to thank each and every one of you readers and reviewers who have followed me all the way up to this final page, and although there are too many of you to do the individual thank you page as I had done with the original version, I hope you can take my deepest gratitude for your continued support.  
> I rarely do shameless advertising, but there is one reader/reviewer/author who I do want to give special credit, and that is Reily96. Her stories were one of the first ones I came across before I really knew what this website even was, and was part of the reason I was inspired to stick with the LoZ fandom. On top of that, she was also the very first reviewer for my very first story ever, which just so happens to be the "original Rend," or Beyond Centuries. Basically I owe it a lot to her for actually being here, online, as a fanfic author. So if you liked what you read here, go visit her page, because she also happens to write long adventure-esque stories featuring a certain sorcerer.  
> Ahhh I'm beginning to feel nostalgic. You know, there were quite a lot of casualties in this story. Helmaroc, Argorok, Opal, Dethl, Thistle, to name some noteworthies. I don't think I've ever written a story with zero casualties, come to think of it...  
> As for where to go next? Well, what should really follow Rend would be The Unresolved, but as you know this rewrite deviated quite a bit and I would prefer to (though I probably won't... at least not for a huge long while) rewrite that one as well so that it would mesh better. Thistle's predecessor appears in that story, actually, from back when there was a pair of us working on the same story (long story, I won't get into it but I work solo now since my buddy moved away and became interested in other things besides brainstorming). So the silly silver robe that appeared in The Unresolved would be edited in a potential rewrite, but aside from that (and a few dialogue between Link and Vaati) it's still probably pretty good enough to serve as a sequel.  
> As for the sequel to the sequel, Recollections, unless you actually like bawling your eyes out and watching people fall left and right like leaves in autumn, well, I suggest you stay away from it. Back then I needed to have a definitive end for myself so that I could stop writing about the same old characters. I kept writing about the same old characters anyway so... yeah I don't really count that as my "fleets' story canon." BUT if you really want to, you can read it and my personal story timeline will make some kind of sense. Up to you.  
> PERSONAL SUGGESTION FROM THE AUTHOR (must be serious since I all-capsed that, right?) is to consider the next best sequel to be Avilux itself. Vaati's interpretation there fits better from what I wrote in Rend (Although it would be awesome if I could rewrite Avilux as well, since some parts could use fixing). And that story leads up to my next big project, Occult Ascendancy, which immediately follows Avilux. And, as you know from my small quips (as well as from page one of OA), Thistle's featured. Yep, same exact one from this story, even though I killed him in this story. It'll make sense. Don't worry about it. Just another one of my crazy ideas. At the same time, I do recognize that the Avilux/OA series isn't for everyone especially with the increasing number of OCs and the fact that it's 'modern day Hyrule' so if you just want to end it here with the open-ended parting of Vaati and Link, that's a good way to go as well. One of these days I'm going to mess up big time and disappoint everyone with a godawful ending... Yeah that's my nightmare.


End file.
